Val Verde

Georgia O'Keeffe visited. So did Cole Porter when he had business in Hollywood. But the public has yet to get past the front gates of the famed Val Verde estate in Montecito. Still, a judge's ruling is giving new hope that average joes may soon get a look at one of the most gorgeous gardens in America. Santa Barbara County Superior Court Judge J.

In a town without sidewalks, traffic signals or a sewer system, residents banded together three years ago to fight the town's Goliath: Laidlaw Waste Management, the operator of Chiquita Canyon Landfill.

The Disney Hall organ, which was mentioned four times in the article "Actress, Developer Hitched at the Hall" (by Ann Conway, Nov. 7) and was said to have "made" the wedding, did not play itself. The music was performed by William Charles Beck, one of the finest of numerous very fine organists we are most privileged to have residing in our environs. The hall, and its organ, would be no more than beautiful sculpture were it not for the many talented individuals who will make it come to life.

Madonna once offered to buy his estate for $22 million, but Dr. Warren Austin would have none of it. No sir. He had other plans for his historic property: He was going to give it away. Little did he realize how hard that would be. For three years now, Austin has been fighting for county permission to deed his elegant home and graceful gardens to a nonprofit foundation that would open them to the public.

The girls who gave their testimonials are all under 18. These are children who are being raped and tortured. This is child abuse in its most hideous form. Why the grown men who lead these "soldiers" don't put a stop to this is beyond comprehension. It is impossible for me as a mother and as a woman to understand how a grown man could subject a young girl to this kind of humiliation and torture and have no ability to empathize or feel her pain. It is time for the United States to step in and take action.

A man suspected of kidnaping and sexually assaulting a Val Verde real estate agent is likely to be transferred from Utah, where he was apprehended, to Los Angeles to face federal charges, authorities said Thursday. Timothy Daniel Shue, 38, will appear in federal court in Salt Lake City today where he will have the opportunity to challenge efforts to extradite him to California, said his court-appointed attorney, Reid Lambert. If Shue resists, prosecutors seeking extradition would have to convince a federal judge or grand jury that there is probable cause he committed the kidnaping.

My sympathies go out to Lynne Plambeck and the members of SCOPE over the removal of 105 oak trees in preparation for the latest shopping center to sprout at the fringes of Santa Clarita. The manner in which Newhall Land & Farming Co. conducted the removal of these trees--a rapid assault--while SCOPE was still going through an appeals process, was utterly contemptible. The justifications provided by Newhall Land spokeswoman Marlee Lauffer ("we have all the appropriate permits") only demonstrate the sheer determination of Newhall Land to pursue their bottom line.

I have been a licensed real estate broker for 17 years, and it was with horror that I read about the abduction of the Val Verde agent. Increased visibility in the market has made the female real estate agent more of a target for weirdos. Even though the industry has addressed the issues of safety from time to time, not one person, company or association has taken the proactive step of declaring a direct change of policy to insure their agents' welfare. At best, most offices only suggest prudent conduct.

Re "A Glorious Sight Unseen," [June 2]: How is it that the state can pass granny flat laws that effectively allow rental units in every single family neighborhood in California, yet the historic Val Verde estate sitting on 17 1/2 acres can't be opened to the public because that would disrupt the neighborhood? Jim Devore San Clemente