A mountain lion passes through the property the City might re­zone to allow a high-end development of four homes

By IRENE PARK Staff Reporter

A Martinez open space property allegedly bore witness to a special wild sighting.

At 11 :31 a.m. on Friday morning, the Martinez Police Department received a call from a Vine Hill Way resident requesting surveillance of the area. The caller was none other than Susanne Higgins, fiancee of property owner Gary Freitas, whose pro­posed development of said open space has been the topic of much heated political discussion of late.

Higgins put in the call after a concerned neigh­bor knocked on her door and informed her of a mountain lion on her property. The neighbor had seen the animal crossing through the open space at 635 Vine Hill Way.

"I didn't see it-Gary looked around but didn't see it-but she warned us so we were concerned," Higgins said.

Freitas and Higgins want the City to change the zoning of several acres of their property, located near the Pine Meadow Golf Course south of High­way 4, from "open space"-a designation that pro­hibits development-to "residential".

The City Council hosted a public hearing on the controversial matter on Dec. 5. The Council decided to defer decision on the matter to a later meeting after hearing arguments from an attorney retained by a political action group formed to blockthe zoning change, Keep Our Open Space.

The Council asked Freitas's lawyer to return to the Dec. 19 meeting with a response to the claims.

After being notified of the sighting, Higgins first called Con­tra Costa County Animal Services, who promptly redirected her to the California Department of Fish and Game. Fish and Game's Napa office, which incorporates coun­ties including Contra Costa, Sacra­mento and San Francisco, informed Higgins, "if it is just doing its thing, it will not come out again."

A "courteous" Martinez Police Department car did drive through the neighborhood to sur­vey the area. Records Management at the MPD confirmed that Animal Control refused to respond until after the police had first inspected the area.

The community-conscious neighbor has not been identified.

Higgins expressed fear in response to the two animal depart­ments' complacency.

"Our mailboxes are 300 feet down our driveway. It would be alarming for any member of my family to see a mountain. lion down there!"

But a "Keep Me Wild" brochure from the Fish and Game Department's mountain lion cam­paign begs to differ, saying moun­tain lions are "quiet, solitary and elusive, and typically avoid peo­ple."

It also assures residents that ,mountain lions that threaten peo­ple, livestock or pets are consid­ered "problem animals" and are immediately dealt with by Fish and Game.     .        

According to Laurie Briden, a senior wildlife biologist with Fish and Game, mountain lions generally appear in areas with considerable numbers..of deer to support their survival. If there are deer, she said, the animals are clearly not hunting pets-nor, for that matter humans.

If there are no deer, Briden said lions may simply be passing through an area, rather than hunt­ing. However, she did detail cer­tain qualities that may qualify an animal as dangerous.

"Mountain lions are consid­ered a threat if they don.'t show any fear, and if adults can't shoo them away," Briden said. "You get the occasional cat that will prey on livestock. That is not a good ani­mal, and we can issue depredation  permits."  Animal relocation, she added, is not possible due to lack of man­power and potential territorial battles as a result of relocated cats.

Mountain lions are a specially protected animal in California and cannot be hunted.

The Department of Fish and Game Web site provides addition­al information about living with mountain lions. Those interested can visit the "Keep Me Wild" brochure at http://www.dfg.ca.gov/keep­meild/lion.html for more details.