THE HILLS HAVE EYES – VC Reporter
As CityBeat and ValleyBeat have reported, that detailed information about the Sr-90 levels is in there, however, buried in the developer’s lab reports. This infuriates Coryell, who was portrayed by city councilmembers in April 2004 as “alarmist” by using Rocketdyne-related “scare tactics” to try to derail the project as it was being approved unanimously by the City Council. Coryell, a Republican and a vice president of Calabasas Hills-based Countrywide Financial Corp., considers herself pro-development and knows that the Runkle Canyon project, minus the radiation problems, would actually increase the value of her home, which is three doors down from the property.
“Isn’t it just a little bit disingenuous for the council to expect the developer, who stands to lose so much money, to be an honest, disinterested, unbiased third party?,” said Coryell, who has started a website called StopRunkledyne.com that details the controversy. “The City Council and Planning Department have had [the two L.A. CityBeat/ValleyBeat articles] at least since when Reverend Southwick and I gave it to them in August. I am shocked, I really am.”
Rev. John Southwick, a longtime Simi resident, informed this newspaper of the new fencing in August. He says the old days of neighbors walking and biking through the oak-studded canyon are over. “Two gentlemen were waiting at the entrance so I just hung out for a while,” Southwick said of an August 24 incident. “An SUV pulled up, two gentlemen inside, and they picked up the two others waiting. Inside the gate, they started taking pictures, and then they drove up the fire road to the east in a cloud of dust. I took out my camera and started to snap the license plate and the rent-a-cop ran out and said, ‘No pictures – the owner said no pictures or I will call the police.’ I said, ‘Go ahead.’”
It won’t be easy keeping locals from watching the developers’ every move in Runkle. In late August, longtime aerospace vet Terry Matheney started launching a 15-foot long blimp over the canyon equipped with a rotating high-resolution camera designed and supplied by Simi-based Cheap Shots Aerial Photography. In one afternoon, Matheney’s crew shot over 700 crisp photos of the proposed construction site, many of which are available, along with extensive Runkle Canyon radiation documentation, on EnviroReporter.com. “We can get the shocked look on the KB Homes supervisor’s face when he realizes we’re hovering over the top of them,” says Matheney. “They don’t own that airspace – we’re allowed to be up there. We can rise above and see exactly what’s going on and they can’t stop us.”
But can concerned residents stop the Runkle Canyon development? They will try to again at the next Simi Valley City Council meeting September 25.
