Greenbelt Soon Will Be City’s

Hermosa Beach expects to close escrow Dec. 21 on its newest city park, the verdant pathway previously known as the old Santa Fe Railroad right of way, city officials said this week.

City Manager Kevin Northcraft, in a status report Tuesday to the City Council, said most of the 20-acre strip--recently dubbed the Hermosa Valley Greenbelt--will officially belong to the city on Dec. 21, at a cost of $6 million.

The remaining 20% of the strip, worth another $1.5 million, will belong to the city as soon as a lawsuit over the ownership of the property is settled and the title is clear, Northcraft said. In the meantime, the city will have exclusive rights to the section under the terms of its lease with the railroad, he said.

The strip was the subject of controversy earlier this month when the city challenged pet owners who for years had allowed their dogs to run off-leash there. The dog owners lost when voters approved the city’s plan to enforce leash laws on the greenbelt. The new ordinance will take effect Dec. 8.