Proposal for 7,428 Homes Under Review : Santa Clarita Growth Studied

Amendments have been proposed to the Los Angeles County General Plan for the Santa Clarita Valley to allow construction of four housing projects that would add 7,428 homes to the area, where the issues of growth, school crowding and traffic congestion have divided residents and developers.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Thursday ordered the county planning staff to prepare a report on the impact of the proposed developments on local services, such as water supply and fire protection.

The board scheduled a Dec. 18 vote on numerous amendments to the county General Plan and the Santa Clarita Valley Areawide General Plan, which would pave the way for the housing projects, including a 5,400-unit tract proposed for Canyon Country by developer Jack Shine.

The proposal by Shine’s company, American Beauty Homes, for a 988-acre site east of the Antelope Valley Freeway at Via Princessa was referred to by county planners as a “comprehensive planned community.” To be built over 15 years, it would include apartments, condominiums, single-family houses and commercial development. Thirty acres would be set aside for parks and schools.

The other proposed projects are a 1,073-unit development by Larwin Construction Co. on 376 acres west of the Golden State Freeway in Castaic; 637 units by William Cloyd on 424 acres near Soledad Canyon Road and Shadow Pines Boulevard in Canyon Country, and 318 homes by Bouquet Canyon Development Co. on 98 acres near Hob Avenue and Turkey Farm Road in Saugus.

The developers said there is a need for more housing in the area. James Rodgers of the Bouquet Canyon company said that his firm has 700 people on a waiting list for a nearly completed housing project in Saugus.

Availability ‘Zilch’

Realtor Jeannette Sharer similarly said the demand for housing in the Santa Clarita Valley is great, but that the inventory of available units is “zilch.”

The developers said they planned their projects to preserve as much natural terrain as possible, and with community needs for new roads and schools in mind.

At a lengthy public hearing before the supervisors Thursday, however, area residents said they fear the new housing would add to school crowding and congestion of streets and freeways. They also questioned the Castaic Lake Water Agency’s ability to provide enough water in future years because completion of the California Water Project, from which it plans to obtain more water, is not assured.

“I’m not objecting to growth--just to the amount of growth,” said Canyon Country resident Christian Van Eunen. He said the proposed projects are “not development, but the rape of the Santa Clarita Valley.”

Jan Heidt of the Santa Clarita Valley Homeowners Coalition, an anti-development group, said she is concerned about the dismantling of what once was a general plan that prohibited high-density development on much of the land.

“We’re just being overpowered in the Santa Clarita Valley,” she said.