Maureen Megowan's Blog

In the early 1900's , when land values dictated that Peninsula property could no longer be used for only cattle grazing, Jotham Bixby who owned the 16,000 acre Rancho de los Palos Verdes leased the land to Japanese farmers, to cultivate fruits and vegetables. Land was leased for approx. ten dollars an acre, and in the early 1900's, approx. 40 Japanese families were cultivating crops on the Peninsula.

The Ishibashi family was one of the first Japanese families to farm the Peninsula.  Kumekichi Ishibashi came to San Francisco in 1895, and walked to Los Angeles. He worked as a houseboy for many years, but in 1906 leased his first farm from Bixby in 1906 at the site of the present day Trump National Golf course in Rancho Palos Verdes.  In 1910, Kumekichi brought his younger brother, Tomizo, to join him at the farm. The Ishibashi family used to get water once a week for their house, which they built themselves, from a well in the Portuguese Bend area, and this took the better part of a day. The family farmed by the "dry farming" method with no irrigation, and grew beans, cucumbers, peas and tomatoes. Early electricity was obtained by a boat generator, and auto batteries.



1923 Picture of some of the 40 Japanese families cultivating the Palos Verdes Peninsula (courtesy of Palos Verdes Library District)

When World War II began, however, the Japanese families who were farming the Rancho Palos Verdes area were interned for the duration of the war; many were relocated to the internment camp at Manzanar, California.  On February 1, 1942, Kumekuchi Ishibashi and  his wife Take were taken to a detention camp for Japanese in Bismarck, North Dakota.  In July, 1942, Kumekuchi's family including his son Mas, Mas' wife, Miye, along with their son Satoshi, who was seven years old at the time, and Mas' brothers, George and Aki were interned at Poston, Arizona. In a little over one year, Kumekichi was able to reunite with his family in Poston. They then moved to Utah to farm for the duration of the war.

Mas' brother, George and Kay, served in the 442nd Regimental Infantry Combat Unit. This unit received more citations than any other outfit [of its size].  Miye Ishibashi sold strawberries on the side of the road and Mas farmed Rancho Palos Verdes for over 50 years, with the exception of the internment years.  Their son Satoshi continued working with his father to farm rolling acres of barley and garbanzo beans for many of those years as well.  Tomizo, Kumekichi's brother, had four farming sons: Ichiro, James, Tom and Daniel and two daughters, Yukiko and Naomi. James Ishibashi's farm is several miles down the road. His wife sold vegetables at "Annie's stand," serving the community for forty years. Tom Ishibashi farms on city-owned property next to Torrance Municipal Airport. [retired in 2006].

For more about the HISTORY OF THE SOUTH BAY OF LOS ANGELES visit my website at http://www.maureenmegowan.com

                                                  MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE MEGOWAN FAMILY

                                                   MAUREEN, BRUCE, RYAN, BRENDAN, AND KEVIN

I HOPE THAT YOU AND YOUR FAMILY HAVE A JOYOUS AND SAFE CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR.   AT THIS TIME OF ECONOMIC UPHEAVAL, LET US NOT FORGET THE LESS FORTUNATE THAN US AND REMEMBER THE TRUE MEANING OF CHRISTMAS, THAT IS THE JOY OF GIVING AND REMEMBERING THE GIFT BESTOWED TO MANKIND  BY THE CHRIST CHILD.

At the end of my recent Mediterranean Cruise on Carnival Cruise Lines, my husband and youngest son, who had just graduated high school, flew to Paris France for a few days before heading home.  We had a wonderful stay in Paris, and one thing that is amaziing about Paris is the efficiency of their subway. You can get almost anywhere in central Paris on the subway with almost any destination just a few blocks from a transit station.

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from Paris:

Arc de Triomphe	Champs-lyses

Notre Dame Cathedral

Montmartre Paris

Comments and Suggestions:

1) Museums in Paris are free on the first Sunday of the month.

2)  The best way to get from the airport to downtown historical Paris is by train. The train station is right at 2 of the terminals at the airport. It is about 8 euros one way and is very convenient.

3)  Once in Paris, you can get within a few blocks of almost anywhere using the underground metro. You can buy a multi-day passes at certain metro stops, and these are definitely worth it as you just keep using the same pass without buying tickets at each station.

For more pictures of Paris  , visit my website at http://www.maureenmegowan.com
               

 Last week, the Federal Reserve cut its benchmark Federal Funds rate, the rate at which it lends funds to member banks to a target rate of zero to 1/2%. This resulted in the prime rate to be cut by most banks to 3.25%. Although mortgage rates are only indirectly affected by movement in short term rates, the reduction in the Federal Funds rate also reinforced the reduction in mortgage rates due to the previously announced Federal program to expand its purchases of securities issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Conforming loan rates are now down to a level not seen since the early 1960's

Interest rates provided by Michael Cordova with Milestone Mortgage

For more information on buying and selling real estate on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, visit my website at http://www.maureenmegowan.com

Donald Trump has sued the City of Rancho Palos Verdes for the sum of $100 million accusing the City of fraud and civil rights violations alleging that the City has prevented him from making ceretain improvements to the Trump National Golf Course which he feels is needed to maintain the "Trump Image".

The main allegation included in his lawsuit is that the City forced him to obtain numerous extensive geological studies in order to build homes adjacent to the Golf Course which Mr. Trump believes were unncecessary and were only done to exact large fees from him.

The problem with Mr. Trump is that he believes that the rules that everybody else plays by are not written to include him. The best example of this was when he erected an over-sized American Flag which did not comply with city ordinances for flag poles, and when the city asked him to take it down, he accused the City of being anti-American. He also planted a row of ficus trees blocking some local residents views, and when he refused to remove them in compliance with conditions of approval for his project, he again felt that the City was being unreasonable.

His lawsuit is trying to piggy-back on a recent State Supreme Court ruling that some local residents in a near-byland slide moratorium zone established by the City successfully sued to prevent the City from restricting their right to develop their property without just compensation from the City. He, in fact, hired the same attorney who successfully pursued this case.

For more information on Rancho Palos Verdes visit my website at http://www.maureenmegowan.com

The owners of the Promenade on the Peninsula shopping center in downtown Rolling Hills Estates proposed a major expansion of the center which would include the construction of 68 residential units over the two story retail stores adjacent to the parking garage, as well as the construction of an additional 30,000 square feet of retail space within the mall.

The new expansion would include constructing retail stores and cafes along the front of the shopping center along Silver Spur Road and Drybank Drive. The intent of the construction of the new residential units is to create more activity and foot traffic within the center.

The rendering above depicts what the proposed Promenade on the Peninsula redesign would look like.

One resident who attended the joint meeting of the Rolling Hills Estates City Council and the Planning Commission made the comment that the current mix of tenants at the center did not meet the needs of the local residents, saying "I can't even buy an ink cartridge for my computer on the Hill".

I completely agree that the current tenant mix of the center does not make sense, and is focused too much on women's apparell. A good office supply store would be an excellent addition to the center. I would recommend that the stores owner do a comprehensive survey of the centers customers in the local market area as to the stores that they would like to see at the center and would support.

For more information about Rolling Hills Estates, please visit my website at http://www.maureenmegowan.com

On Wednesday December 17th, the California State Supreme Court denied the City of Rancho Palos Verdes appeal of the Appelate Court's decision allowing homeowners in the Portuguest Bend landslide moratorium zones the right to develop their properties.

Said RPV Mayor Larry Clark, "We are quite disappointed that the Supreme Court did not take this case. The city's position has been that we cannot allow development in a landslide hazard zone unless the property owner can prove that it would be safe to do so. The Court of Appeal has now said the city cannot do that without paying compensation to the property owner."

Portuguese Bend Landslide area, with Livingston Quarry at Ladera Linda in upper center

Councilman Douglas Stern, an attorney, stated, "The City Council will have to determine what action to take in order to comply with the Court of Appeal's decision. The options include allowing the plaintiffs to build in the landslide area, or purchasing the plaintiffs' properties. But it is clear that the city does not have the reserves on hand to pay the plaintiffs what they claim their properties are worth."

For more information on the landslide moratorium issues, visit my website at http://www.maureenmegowan.com

The Rancho Palos Verdes Planning Commission last Thursday approved the redesigned Trader Joe's store proposed for the Golden Cove Shopping Center at the corner of Hawthorne Boulevard and Palos Verdes Drive South, at the previous location of the Golden Lotus Restaurant. The new design reduces the planned height of the 11,000 sq. ft. store from the previous 38 feet to a height of approx. 26 ft. 3 inches, and reduced the size of the planned store from the previous design of 16,000 sq. ft.

The new store is planned to be approx. the same size as the current Trader Joes in Riviera Village and Rolling Hills Plaza. The Rancho Palos Verdes City Council still needs to approve the store, but is expected to approve the revised plans. Construction is expected to start during the summer of 2009 in order to minimize the operations of the Montessori school at the shopping center.

For more information about Rancho Palos Verdes, visit my website at http://www.maureenmegowan.com

Last night, the Rancho Palos Verdes City Council approved, by a 3 to zero vote to approve the expansion plans as modified for the St. John Fisher Catholic  Church on the corner of Crenshaw and Crest Roads in Rancho Palos Verdes. The new expansion plans include  a new 17,000 sq. ft. main sanctuary with a 74 foot lighted cross.

 Picture of model by Steve McCrank/Staff Photographer for the Daily Breeze

The church will also refurbish the current sanctuary into an athletic and activities center as part of the $20 million project.

Many local neighbors had raised questions about the size and location of the new sanctuary claiming that it was too imposing of a structure at the corner of Crenshaw and Crest. It is not known at this time whether these neighbors might file a lawsuit appealing the City Council's approval.

For more information about Rancho Palos Verdes, visit my website at http://www.maureenmegowan.com

The Rolling Hills Estates (RHE) Planning Commission is scheduled to meet on Monday December 15th. At 5:30 PM the topic will be the Promenade on the Peninsula Mall's request for a conditional use permit to build 66 condominiums and 16,620 square feet of commercial space in the 500 block of Deep Valley Drive. The latest count is that some 400 additional "condo" units are being proposed / contemplated for the rural community along Sliver Spur and Deep Valley Drive.

At 7:30 PM the topic is the proposed Medical Office Condominiums at 828 Silver Spur Road. This property is the former Arco station across from Long's & Bristol Farms. Those interested in these proposed projects may wish to attend the meeting.

For more info about issues affecting the Palos Verdes Peninsula, I would recommend subscribing to the PVP Watch Newsletter (which provided the above information), send an email to info@pvpwatch.com .

For more information about Rolling Hills Estates, visit my website at http://www.maureenmegowan.com