Newhall Builder Wins Approval to Uproot 337 Oaks

A housing developer’s application to uproot 337 oaks in Newhall was approved Wednesday by the Los Angeles County Regional Planning Commission, although commissioners agreed with oak preservationists that the county’s ordinance governing removal of the trees should be strengthened.

After a 2 1/2-hour public hearing, the commission voted 4 to 1 to grant Leisure Technology Inc. of Los Angeles a permit to remove the oaks to make way for 102 single-family homes on a 34-acre site.

Commission Chairwoman Sadie Clark told about 50 homeowners and oak preservationists that the commissioners could not agree to their request for a delay in the vote until after the Board of Supervisors considers a proposal to amend the oak law.

“We must abide by existing rules, not on recommendations,” Clark said. “We must make our decision based upon today’s laws.”

Doug Kitchen, Leisure Technology’s vice president of development, said his company designed the project to save as many trees as possible. The project preserves 453 of the 790 trees on the property, he said, and the firm will comply with a county ordinance by planting two replacement oaks for every one it destroys.

Clark and other commissioners said that they support amendment of the oak ordinance to require developers to maintain replacement oaks for at least two years after they are planted. The Santa Clarita Valley Planning Advisory Council, a citizens group that advises county supervisors, has recommended such a change in the law.

Jeannette Sharer, an advisory council member and a longtime oak preservationist, said mature trees often are replaced by saplings, which sometimes are left untended and die.

The trees marked for removal in Newhall are in the only remaining oak grove in the area, she said.

Jeff Taylor, a county planner, predicted that supervisors soon will ask for a revised ordinance reflecting the advisory council’s concerns.

At the suggestion of Commissioner Lee Strong, Clark ordered the matter placed on the commission’s agenda.

“If the present oak tree ordinance needs to be looked at, we need not wait for the Board of Supervisors,” Strong said.

Commissioner Harold Gould, who represents the Santa Clarita Valley, moved to approve Leisure Technology’s application with the condition that the firm maintain the replacement trees it plants.

Commissioner Elizabeth Fisher, who voted against granting the permit, said she is concerned about “sitting here week after week and voting to cut down oak trees.”

“In this case, we are not just looking at a few trees, but a grove of trees,” she said. It is “very dangerous to pass on something” without waiting for needed ordinance changes, she said.

Ken Buchan, who lives across the street from the proposed housing project, said a loose-knit organization of area residents and four homeowner associations will continue to oppose the project by appealing the commission’s decision to the Board of Supervisors.

The group will also start a petition drive and a letter-writing campaign, he said.