Happy Sleepy Holloween 2017

It isn't like decades past, when Sleepy Hollow residents, led by the Carbon Canyon Women's Club, would have a community event including the famed Ride of the Headless Horseman from Washington Irving's short story, "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow."

It's not even ten or so years ago when the women's club hosted a Halloween party at the Sleepy Hollow Community Center.

Now my kids are too old to trick or treat, so there's not even that.

But, there are still folks in the neighborhood who get into the spirits of the holiday and put up creative, eye-catching, and creepy decorations--so there is something about upholding tradition that way.

For example, check out a neighbor's fence and the wish for a "Happy Sleepy Holloween" along with a witch making her brew for All Souls Eve.

Or, the one with the scary clown--after all, clowns are generally creepy.

Then, there's the ghostly lady gently swaying with the breeze as she hangs from an oak tree.

One of the coolest (yup, pun intended) decorations is a neighbor who created a 5-foot tall volcano in the yard.  Lavalicious!

And, check out the neighbor who carved this year into their pumpkin!

So, we'll see how many trick-or-treaters there'll be tonight--lately, it's been only a few kids plying the neighborhood.  But, they tend to do really well in terms of amount of candy per house!

It's getting dark, so time to see who will be coming to get their treats.  Happy Sleepy Holloween 2017!

The Gaines and Brown Families of Carbon Canyon, Part Six: Flying Cow Ranch Photos

Thanks again to Joyce Harrington, who generously shared many photographs from the Gaines and Brown families, who lived in the Carbon Canyon/Olinda area for many decades from about the 1900s onward.

Past entries in this series included a couple of views of the Gaines family home on their Flying Cow Ranch in what is now the Olinda Village community on the Brea side of the canyon.

The home stood on what is today's Hollydale Mobile Home Estates property on the south side of Carbon Canyon Road, though the ranch extended north into the Olinda Village subdivision.  Edward F. Gaines used the ranch to pasture livestock and Joyce's photos include a number of great images of the ranch property.  He died in 1956 and less than a decade later, Olinda Village was developed.

So, today's entry highlights more of those snapshots, with the first being a view, of an unknown date, but perhaps in the 1910s or 1920s,  taken looking northwest towards the Gaines ranch house and framed nicely among some trees.

 

Among the gentle rolling hills sloping gradually downwards towards the photographer and, behind that person, the confluence of Carbon and Soquel canyons, is a man with a team of horses.  Presumably, he and the animals are grading the land or preparing it for planting crops.

In the distance are two stands of trees, the Gaines ranch house, what looks like a water tower, and an outbuilding.  In between the trees and further off is the distinct sharply pointed peak of a hill that can easily be seen today at the west end of the Olinda Village tract.

The second photo, perhaps from about the same time as the first, shows a pair in a buggy pulled by two horses and a group of four persons seated on the front steps and porch of the Gaines house.  Behind the house is a portion of the sloping hills in what is now the Olinda Village area.  Presumably the photo shows Gaines and his wife, Fannie Atwater, along with family and/or friends.

Finally, there is an image of a barn, horse and a man behind the animal on the ranch, again maybe from the time of the other two.  In 1939, a devastating fire burned down the barn; destroyed Edward Gaines' original and restored stagecoach, which he used for parades and other events; and killed some of his prize horses.

There are more photos from Joyce's collection to be posted, so check back for more soon.

Carbon Canyon Road Closed Due to Fire by Regional Park in Brea

7:50 p.m.  Official Chino Hills update from 5 minutes ago is that Carbon Canyon Road is fully opened.

7:25 p.m.  Starting to see vehicles coming eastbound from the Brea side of Carbon Canyon, so it looks like the road is again open.

6 p.m. UPDATE from the city website:

Road Closure - Wed. 10/25 UPDATE 6:00 pm Fire is nearly out- Carbon Canyon still closed

6:00 pm update: The Carbon Canyon fire is nearly out. Crews on on scene conducting mop up with 2 helicopters remaining in the area in case of hot spots or flare ups. Fire was in Brea and contained to 5 acres. Carbon Canyon remains closed due to fire apparatus in the area.

Here's the City of Chino Hills alert:

October 25, 2017 4:27 PM

Road Closure - Wed. 10/25 4:15 pm - Carbon Canyon Road Closed Due to a Vegetation Fire in Brea

Carbon Canyon Road is closed in both directions due to a vegetation fire near Carbon Canyon Regional Park. From the Chino Hills side, residents will be allowed access into Carbon Canyon from Chino Hills Parkway. There is a total road closure at the County line past Sleepy Hollow.
On the Brea side, Carbon Canyon Road is closed in both directions of trave

Chino Hills & Diamond Bar Sue Over Tres Hermanos Ranch Sale

It's hot off the (electronic) press, being posted just about 20 minutes ago, but the San Gabriel Valley Tribune has an article detailing the lawsuits filed on Friday the 20th by the cities of Chino Hills and Diamond Bar against the sale of the 2,450-acre Tres Hermanos Ranch, which is within their borders, to the City of Industry.

Mark Hensley, city attorney for Chino Hills, wrote in his filing that Industry "deceived the Oversight Board [for the former Industry redevelopment agency] and the public by consistently making false statements that the property would be used for open space and recreational purposes" while spending millions of dollars in studies for a solar farm that would cover about 40% of the land.  Hensley argued that "as a result of this deception the affected taxing agencies have been harmed."

Tres Hermanos Ranch from the south, March 2016.

Industry secured a 4-3 vote by the oversight board because of an offer to use Tres Hermanos land for public access and for the preservation of open space and has, it's been reported, contacted the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation about ways this could be done, presumably on the remaining 60% of the ranch, or about 1,550 acres.

Statutes require the oversight boards of former redevelopment agencies to secure the "best and highest value" for former redevelopment property, like Tres Hermanos.  A question would be whether this is solely measured in dollars lost to cities like Chino Hills and Diamond Bar, because the appraised value of the ranch was up to approximately $120 million and the agreed-upon purchase price was just south of $42 million.  The suits claim the ranch should be sold to the highest bidder

Notably, these suits challenge the sale as their major focus, though there are expressed concerns about the proposed solar project violating state environmental laws and local planning ordinances.  Interestingly, the Chino Hills filing includes letters from the Chino Valley Fire District and the County of San Bernardino supporting the city's allegations.

Here is the full article, which will appear in tomorrow's print edition.

Madrona Trial Court Ruling Upheald by State Appeals Court

Four days ago, judges in District Three of the Fourth Appellate District for the State of California affirmed, with modifications, an Orange County Superior Court ruling against the proposed Madrona project in the Brea portion of Carbon Canyon.

This suit filed by the preservation organization Hills for Everyone, along with three other entities, against the Old Standard Life Insurance Company and its OSLIC Holdings (under receivership with the State of Idaho), challenged the City of Brea's approval of the 162-unit project on the north side of the canyon between Olinda Village and the Chino Hills border on the grounds that the project failed to meet the city's own development standards for the canyon.

The city argued that, because the project dated back years before the adoption of the Carbon Canyon plan, Madrona was exempt from it, but the Superior Court ruling firmly rejected that contention.  Consequently, when an appeal was mounted, the city declined to join OSLIC Holdings (it helped that most of the council and some of the city staff were no longer in their positions).  Still, OSLIC persevered only to suffer this latest defeat.

The two main points upheld by the appellate court had to do with conflict in the city's woodlands management policy to protect, preserve and manage oak and walnut trees and associated woodland areas and that there was not "the necessary and critical analysis" concerning "compliance with slope grading requirements" in the Carbon Canyon plan.

There is much more to the ruling which spans thirty-seven pages of the mind-numbing legalese to be expected in such a document, but, for now, Hills for Everyone and its fellow litigants, as well as allies, associates, friends, supporters and whoever else was against the Madrona project duly deserves a massive "hurrah" for the huge undertaking it shepherded for many, many years.

City of Industry Approves Solar Farm Project for Tres Hermanos Ranch

Here is the latest from the San Gabriel Valley Tribune on the City of Industry's plans for a solar farm project at Tres Hermanos Ranch, just north of Carbon Canyon:

Carbon Canyon Fire Safe Council Brush Drop Off This Saturday!

The Carbon Canyon Fire Safe Council, with funding from the City of Chino Hills and support from Chino Hills (Republic) Disposal, is holding its second and final brush drop-off of 2017 this Saturday the 7th from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The disposal company will have a large roll-off bin on Canon Lane, just north of Carbon Canyon Road and adjacent to Chino Valley Fire District Station 64, for Carbon Canyon residents to deposit their cut brush.

Volunteers from the Fire Safe Council will be present to help residents with the unloading of their brush into the bin.

This great program aids in reducing flammable material that is easy and ready fuel for wildfires, like the Canyon fire which burned more than 2,600 acres within the last couple of weeks.  Last winter's rainfall promoted new growth and that, along with older material, presents a threat for a fire in our always-vulnerable canyon.

So, anything residents can do to reduce and minimize the risk helps greatly and the Fire Safe Council is glad to work with the City and the disposal company to offer the drop-off service.