Sunday, July 19, 2026

Altadena Town Council to Take Up Park Recovery at Tuesday Meeting

The Altadena Town Council on Tuesday will hear a county-led update on the recovery of the community’s fire-damaged parks, headlined by the director of the Los Angeles County parks department on the state of Eaton Canyon and other sites still shuttered more than a year after the Eaton Fire.

The parks update anchors a July 21 agenda that also asks the council to vote on a letter supporting Eaton Fire trail restoration, and it offers Altadena residents a concrete gauge of how quickly public spaces central to the community’s recovery might reopen.

The special presentation is led by Norma E. García-González, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation, joined by Chester Kano, the department’s deputy director of planning and development. A public comment period is set aside for the presentation.

Several of the sites at issue remain closed. The Eaton Fire tore through Eaton Canyon, and debris flows that February and March reshaped its terrain, burying or erasing trails. The Eaton Canyon Natural Area and its trails are closed until further notice, and county officials have said the canyon will stay closed through 2026 and possibly longer. Before the fire, the canyon drew about a million visitors a year.

To speed the parks’ recovery, the county opened a Landscape Recovery Center in Eaton Canyon on March 7, a nursery and restoration hub growing native plants for seven fire-damaged parks — six of them in Altadena: Charles S. Farnsworth Park, Charles White Park, Eaton Canyon Natural Area, Loma Alta Park, Altadena Golf Course and Triangle Park — plus the Castaic Lake State Recreation Area. As of the launch, the department had purchased more than 200 native trees and about 1,000 native shrubs and plants for the affected areas.

“As we restore County parks in Altadena and help regreen Eaton Canyon, we are grateful for the broad support,” García-González said in March. Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger called the recovery hub “a critical investment in the restoration of the Eaton Canyon Natural Area and surrounding habitats.” With the canyon still off-limits, García-González has pointed visitors elsewhere: “Many wonderful trails are available across the county, and users can find them at our LA County Parks site at trails.lacounty.gov.”

Beyond the parks, the agenda carries the vote on the trails-restoration letter and a second special presentation, from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Noemi Emeric-Ford. Public-safety updates are set from the Altadena Sheriff’s Station, the California Highway Patrol and the county fire department, followed by a library report from Altadena Library District Director Nikki Winslow. Committee reports — including land use, renters protection and recovery, and rebuilding and infrastructure — and census-tract updates round out the meeting.

The meeting opens with routine business — a flag salute, roll call, approval of the council’s June 16 minutes, and reports from Chair Nic Arnzen, Vice Chair Milissa Marona and other officers — before the public-safety and community presentations.

The meeting begins at 7 p.m. Tuesday, July 21, and will be streamed on Pasadena Media’s YouTube channel. The council has held its recent meetings at the Altadena Community Center, 730 E. Altadena Drive. Residents attending in person may submit a comment card to speak for up to two minutes; the council does not respond during the meeting but will follow up on request.

The parks presentation and the trails-restoration vote both include dedicated public-comment periods, giving residents a direct say as the council weighs Altadena’s recovery priorities.

The meeting will be streamed live on https://www.youtube.com/c/PasadenaMediaCA.