The Historical Committee of La Habra Heights has just published a commemorative edition of a promotional brochure originally used by the Hart Realty Company. This booklet, which first appeared in the 1930s, describes the Heights as having lots "with a wonderful outlook over picturesque surroundings."

Buyers were promised amenities such as views of Catalina, "well landscaped grounds and flourishing young orchards,"and "old oak and other native trees." Over fifty years ago, people moved here in search of an area that would not be engulfed by the rapid urbanization taking place in Los Angeles during and after World War II.

The first organized attempt to protect the quiet lifestyle of the Heights was in 1938, when the Improvement Association was formed. In 1965, it formally incorporated in order to further the "preservation, development, [and] natural beauty of the area"and to "encourage ... the establishment of regulations and land uses consistent with the general nature of the area,"[Article 2 of LHHIA Articles of Incorporation]. At that time, La Habra Heights was an unincorporated part of Los Angeles County.

Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, residents repeatedly resisted attempts to build high-density housing in the Heights. This required annual bus trips to downtown Los Angeles to testify at Board of Supervisors meetings.

By the early 1970s, residents realized that a legal structure was needed to guide future development in the Heights. They came together to write the first community development plan. After years of constant effort, residents achieved recognition of our right to preserve our lifestyle. The "La Habra Heights Community General Plan"was approved by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on August 14, 1975.

According to an official publication of the County, the Community General Plan "provides a framework for future development to occur in a manner which will preserve this unique environment. ...Adoption of the General Plan does not mark the end of the planning process. ...[The Plan] requires active participation by public agencies ... and especially the kind of enthusiastic public support that has already been demonstrated during the Planís earlier stages of preparation."

Outside development pressures didn't cease, however, because Los Angeles County often failed to enforce the General Plan. Residents decided that incorporation as a City was the only remaining means to ensure the protection of our unique rural lifestyle.

Some residents, mainly owners of large parcels, argued against incorporation because the large lots called for in the General Plan would have meant less subdividing and, they felt, less potential profit. But homeowners finally won out over large landholders. Cityhood was achieved in 1978.

Over the years, many other groups have risen to the defense of our City's rural atmosphere in the face of skyrocketing land values and development pressures in Southern California. Freedom of any kind can only come with this sort of "eternal vigilance."

Freedom from noise and lights, from traffic and commercialization, and from the myriad other forms of urban blight has come to be taken for granted by many of us. But these less desirable aspects of life in Southern California can only be avoided if all of us stay involved in protecting our hard-won rights.