Santa Clarita Rejects Building Moratorium

The Santa Clarita City Council on Thursday rejected an ordinance that would have imposed a building moratorium on developments that gained preliminary approval from Los Angeles County before the city’s incorporation Dec. 15.

A motion to approve the ordinance proposed by City Atty. Carl Newton was made by Councilman Carl Boyer III, but there was no second and the motion died.

A substitute motion by Councilwoman Jan Heidt that the mayor appoint a committee of two council members to draw up recommendations for modifications to the proposed ordinance was defeated on a 3-2 vote by the council. Councilwoman Jo Anne Darcy seconded Heidt’s motion.

The council empowered the county to issue building permits on the city’s behalf until it creates a planning commission.

In rejecting the proposed ordinance, council members said they did not want to stop growth, jobs and money generated by development. Only Heidt favored the proposed measure in some form. Not to review the county-approved projects would be a disservice to the community, she said.

Heidt said the City Council needs to be sure there are adequate services, such as roads, schools and sewers, before the developers proceed.

Boyer said he made the motion, Even though he did not favor it, so that the council could dispose of it. He noted that development is taking place both inside and outside the city and that it would not be fair to halt one project while letting another go forward.

All council members except Heidt had pledged during the incorporation process last summer and fall that they would not enact a building moratorium if elected to the council.

Councilman Dennis Koontz said Thursday, however, that he wanted to put developers on notice that they must be part of the solution to area’s growth problems.

About 500 people on both sides of the moratorium issue crowded into William S. Hart High School to hear the discussion on the proposed ordinance. About 30 people spoke during a public hearing that lasted more than an hour.

Several residents said they favored a building moratorium. Muriel Usselman, president of the Santa Clarita Civic Assn., said that it is imperative that the council review all pending commercial and residential projects before any further development is allowed.

“Our valley, as it functions now, is at capacity,” she said. “The law enforcement and fire services have not grown with the population and are severely hampered in the performance of their duties, putting this valley in a crisis situation.

“Our roads and schools are also at capacity. One need only look around at the havoc created by the Board of Supervisors’ stamp of approval,” she said. Usselman said letting the county-approved projects proceed without city review would be negligent.

Several speakers echoed Usselman’s remarks.

Developers and others in related fields said a building moratorium would be unfair, would cost developers and the building industry millions of dollars and would idle many construction workers.

Gloria Casvin, a vice president of Newhall Land & Farming Co., said the proposed ordinance would unnecessarily delay construction of the 40-acre Valencia Industrial Center and put the jobs of a projected 1,600 workers on hold.

Architect William Cloyd said even the thought of a moratorium “is terrible. It would just cause chaos.”

The proposed ordinance would have delayed a majority of 92 commercial, industrial and residential construction projects. But council members said they believed a planning commission could be organized and ready to examine the projects by the end of next month.

The council approved an ordinance establishing a planning commission Thursday. The city is accepting applications for the five-member body.