Urban planner Doug Suisman explains Canyon history through maps at an exhibition.
Although much of Santa Monica and Rustic Canyon neighbors were spared the total devastation of the fire, they had to evacuate. Canyon homes lost water and power, some homes filled with ash and then the first rainstorm sent mud into many residences.
But on March 1, residents were invited to celebrate the return to their homes in a get-together at Canyon Square, 169 West Channel Road.
Doug Suisman, the interim president of the Santa Monica Canyon Civic Association (SMCCA) was surprised when more than 400 people showed up for the gathering and exhibition.
While at a hotel during the fire evacuation he realized that many first responders didn’t understand the Canyon, with its winding roads, dead-end streets and hidden staircases. “The Canyon is complicated, charming, quirky and confusing,” said Suisman, an urban designer and architect
But “in an emergency, its confusing and difficult to navigate” he said. “While I was in a hotel, I thought I’ll make maps and put them up online,” which led to this exhibit.
He tells new homeowners in the Canyon that “you may have just bought a house, but the land goes back to Spain, Mexico, Ranchos and then Los Angeles.
Suisman’s maps clearly show that the area, which is about .8 of a square mile, is claw-shaped and includes two distinct canyons (Rustic and Santa Monica), which are broken down into five neighborhoods, but one community. The population in this area south of the Palisades and north of Santa Monica is about 4,500 people and 1,050 homes.
People are often confused about Santa Monica Canyon, thinking it is part of Santa Monica, it’s not, it’s L.A.
Suisman said Nevada Senator John Jones bought the flat land above the Canyon hillside in 1875 to market it as an amusement park and a resort, establishing Santa Monica. But the Canyon was still part of the land grant, owned by the Marquez family.
It wasn’t until 1925 that the Canyon, including Rustic and Santa Monica, were annexed by Los Angeles.
This canyon is where water from the Santa Monica Mountains to the north, including Mandeville and Sullivan Canyons, drain into two different creeks, Rustic and Santa Monica. They converge near Canyon Elementary School before flowing into the “boca” of the Canyon and into the Pacific Ocean.
Water drains from hillsides into the Canyon, which is like a green claw at the bottom of the poster.
“There is a tremendous amount of water that feeds into those streams – there is an eight-mile watershed with 30 linear miles of drainage into the sea,” Suisman said.
And with rain, especially with the hillsides denuded from fires, comes floods. As early as 1915, a flood channel was built on one side of the now existing West Channel Road, but when the 1938 flood wiped out roads and buildings, a new channel was built.
This photos, initially black and white historic photos, were colorized by Richard Holoff specifically for this exhibit and show the floods in the canyon.
The Santa Monica Creek/Channel was cemented for flood control, but in a famous short movie, “Save our Stream,” the residents of Rustic Creek lobbied and prevented that creek from being cemented https://youtu.be/aGCGR2N174E.
Frank Langden, the owner of Gallery 169, Langden told CTN that the Canyon “got a pass from nature,” this time.
He has given Suisman space for three months, while he works to establish the Canyon Alliance, a united organization – two canyons, five neighborhoods, one community.
Suisman, a long-time resident said he has three goals for the Alliance 1) recovery and repopulation – helping businesses “get back on their feet,” 2) provide relief to other Palisadians “whatever we can do,” and 3) resilience, which includes long-term planning and building emergency communications.
“We need to self-organize and self-govern with greater clarity and purpose than ever before,” Suisman said. He would like to see Canyon residents work on a disaster preparedness network that includes building with non-combustible materials, a fire brigade, water tanks, pool pumps, earthquake preparedness and flood control.
As he wrote in the introduction to his exhibition “The mountains are going to burn. The creeks are going to flood. The ground is going to shake. And the sea may even rise up in a wall.”
“Are we ready for it?” Suisman asks.
The two streams, one in each canyon join before flowing into the Pacific Ocean.
On March 1, people spilled out of the square that holds several businesses, including Rustic Coffee, Canyon Grocer, Neto’s Café, The Gradient Studio, Rustic Canyon Greenery, replenish-it-la, York Hair and Gallery 169, and also into the street where The Golden Bull, Muse, Giorgios and Delphini had just reopened after the Palisades Fire had closed local businesses on January 7.
Suisman spoke to the crowd and then opened an exhibit, which is in the Frank Langen Gallery. It is open to the public from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. through March 14.
Prior to touring the exhibit, Suisman introduced Sean Hayn and Bryan Clark, who he credits with “saving the Canyon” during the Palisades Fire. Sean and brother Tim stayed putting out flames.
“The fire came up from Rustic and dropped down Chautauqua,” Sean said. Bryan, who also stayed, helped stop looters from taking over the canyon. The men also credit Jonathon Koharik and Blair with helping patrol the canyon after most people had evacuated.
Heroic…