Altadena : Land Swap in Negotiations

Developers Tim Cantwell and Southwest Diversified Inc. are negotiating a land swap with two county agencies to widen Lincoln Avenue and build an extra access road to their property in northwest Altadena.

The developers, who plan to build 272 homes on the 220-acre La Vina property north of Lincoln, have offered to trade some of their land for a strip of Loma Alta Park on Lincoln and flood control district acreage northeast of the park.

Scott Woodward, senior vice president of Southwest Diversified of Irvine, said the county Department of Public Works informally agreed to a swap a year ago. The department, which manages the flood control district, wanted two acres in La Vina northeast of the park in exchange for two acres east of the park for the developers to build a secondary road.

Woodward said the county Department of Parks and Recreation approached him about a month ago asking for about 3 1/2 acres of flood control district land to develop an equestrian center next the park. In return, the developers could use about 12,000 square feet of park frontage on Lincoln to widen that road north of Loma Alta Drive.

The County Board of Supervisors has not yet approved the development, which was approved May 3 by the county Regional Planning Commission. The resident group Friends of La Vina, which plans to appeal the commission’s decision, has complained that the construction and increased traffic would disrupt the wildlife and semi-rural nature of this hilly suburb.