Attempt to Keep Rural Character : Panel Backs Agua Dulce District

The Los Angeles County Planning Commission on Wednesday unanimously approved an unusual community standards district long sought by Agua Dulce residents to preserve the community’s rural character.

Approval of the new district came after commissioners received results of a mail-in survey that showed heavy support for limiting density to one house for every two acres, using Old West architecture in commercial buildings, restricting street widths and limiting expansion of Agua Dulce Airport.

The commission’s approval represents only the second time that an unincorporated area of Los Angeles County has created its own zoning and development plan, county officials said. The first community standards district was adopted by West Hollywood before it became a city and was designed to control apartment building heights, said county planner David Vannatta.

Agua Dulce’s community standards district still faces a vote by the Board of Supervisors, which is expected to approve its creation soon, county officials said.

Agua Dulce residents have worked for several years to create the new district. A handful who attended the commission meeting Wednesday said they hoped their efforts would protect the area from widespread development that has appeared in other parts of the Santa Clarita Valley.

“I guess I want to say, ‘Hallelujah!’ ” said Mary Wyle, a member of the community task force that spearheaded the project. “We really hope this means we can keep our town the way it is as long as possible.”

Planning commissioners had expressed concern that the plan might not be supported by major absentee landowners in the area. But the Department of Regional Planning found widespread support for the plan in its survey of 1,611 landowners, about half of whom responded.

“This plan has enormous support,” said Commissioner George Lefcoe. “This is not something that is backed by one small group.”

“I think this is wonderful, great,” agreed Commissioner Delta Murphy. “This is democracy in action.”

Charles Pratty, a private developer who owns about 900 acres of undeveloped land in Agua Dulce, had argued that the two-acre parcel proposal was unfair to absentee landowners who controlled most of the land. Pratty claimed that most absentee landlords wanted one-acre parcels that would allow more homes to be built.

However, Vannatta said, the survey showed that 54% of the absentee landowners who responded supported two-acre parcels, and that 45% opposed the plan.

Total responses, from residents and absentee landowners, showed that 71% favored two-acre parcels, 83% supported the use of Old West architecture in new commercial buildings, 85% wanted to limit street widths to no more than 24 feet, and 80% wanted to limit expansion of the local airport.