The Pacific Palisades is a gem in the city of Los Angeles. It offers scenic hiking trails with seasonal growth of flowers, plants, and trees that seemingly change every year to offer a new experience every time you take to the trails. However, there’s one constant in the sea of beauty that is an eyesore and a hazard that local residents and city officials wish to remedy. The questionable space is an unkempt trailhead facility that is notorious for the homeless, unusable bathrooms, locked gates, and unpaid taxes. The city finally reached its breaking point with the facility and the property developer and stamped them with a $6 million fine. The city says they deprived the public for too long and violated the access rights of hikers who seek enjoyment in the Santa Monica Mountains.

The fine may seem excessive, but the California Coastal Commission believes that it is more than fair. The property owners are reckless and malicious in their intent to never pay their property taxes and leave the facility in disarray. The property in question has a long and tumultuous history of defaulted taxes, change of ownership, and city failures. For the past 50 years, it created a perfect storm that may prove that this facility may never work.

A Perfect Storm of 50 years of Developer issues

In the 70’s, Headland Properties wanted to build 2,000+ homes beside Topanga State Park. Coastal authorities required the developer to preserve thousands of acres of land for open space and create a trailhead facility. The caveat being that they would transfer ownership of the trailhead facility to the city or a nonprofit approved by the coastal commission.

All seemed well, and in 1995, Headland tried to transfer the property to the city. However, a smudged notary stamp ruined everything. The county clerk’s office deemed it illegible, and the transfer did not go through. Headland received the notification of the smudged stamp but continued to transfer the keys to the city and stopped paying the property taxes. In 2000, the property went into tax default. After a failed sale to a private buyer, Headland tried again to give the property to the city in 2001, but the transaction wasn’t recorded. They hoped to give the facility to the neighboring Homeowner’s Association. Eventually, in 2010, Headland deeded the property to a Headland subsidiary, 1205–1207 Wooster Street LLC, essentially maintaining ownership. They still paid no taxes. In 2013, the property once again went into default.

What the Developers are Doing Now

In 2021, Wooster understood how bad owning the trailhead was. At this point, the company has spent over $350,000 and is still unable to use the property. They filed a lawsuit against the city and county of Los Angeles, the state of California, and Headland themselves. Last week, the Coastal Commission issued a cease-and-desist order and administrative penalty on Headland Development Company. This penalty includes a $6 million fine. Headland could reduce the fine to $5 million if they clean and repair the facility. This money would go to coastal restoration projects.

The lawsuits are still pending, and Headland has no comment as of yet. What is known is that things are starting to move again in a big way. Hopefully, soon, the community will finally have their own parking facility with clean restrooms and a welcoming environment. Parking is already limited across Los Angeles, and any facility that helps the community is always welcome.