Santa Clarita Park Outlook Is Fertile as Builders’ Fees Grow

Millions more dollars for parks will pour into the Santa Clarita Valley and other rapidly growing areas because of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors’ decision to dramatically raise developers’ park fees, officials have predicted.

Fees in the Santa Clarita Valley will soar by as much as 461%, and fees in the Calabasas area will jump 511%.

The fees are authorized under an ordinance stemming from a 1965 state law, known as the Quimby Act, to create parks and improve existing recreational facilities. The ordinance requires builders to donate 3 acres of parkland for every 1,000 people expected to move into a development, or, if the county allows, pay the equivalent in cash. Payment is to be based on the value of an acre of land in the area of the development.

The board had been criticized for its delay in raising the fees. In January, The Times reported that the fees had not been raised since 1982, even though a county ordinance requires them to be adjusted annually.

Many fast-growing areas have a fraction of the parks called for by county guidelines, in part because fees were kept low. In the Santa Clarita Valley, for instance, only 14 acres of neighborhood county parkland were developed in the past 14 years, even though the population doubled to 120,000. Calabasas residents still are waiting for their first neighborhood county park.

The Board of Supervisors last week unanimously voted to raise the fees at the behest of Supervisor Mike Antonovich. The board is expected to make its action final next month, and the new fee schedule will take effect 30 days later.

‘Move More Quickly’

“Through the collection of these upgraded fees, it will be possible to move more quickly to improve existing park sites and add parks to the county’s growing inventory, particularly in the Santa Clarita, Antelope and West San Fernando valleys,” Antonovich said.

At this point, officials with the Department of Parks and Recreation cannot pinpoint where most of their windfall will be spent, or even how much will be raised. But some of the money generated in the Santa Clarita Valley will be used to speed up development of two proposed parks--one in Hasley Canyon and the other in Castaic, said John Weber, a regional parks director.

In January, the fees were increased 95% across-the-board as an interim measure until parks officials settle on an accurate fee schedule. The action was taken after the parks department told the board in late 1986 that fees were too low and officials worked with developers for more than a year to try to devise new rates. Finally, Supervisor Ed Edelman questioned whether the process was being delayed unnecessarily by developers opposed to a large increase, and the interim measure was taken.

Paid at Old Rate

Before the interim fees went into effect, half a dozen builders, including two major ones, paid fees at the old rate. Park officials expect more developers to follow suit before the new fees become law.

The Dale Poe Development Corp., which plans to build 4,378 homes and condominiums near the Golden State Freeway and McBean Parkway, paid $33,698 before the interim fee increase to settle its obligation. The corporation’s bill under the new rate would be $324,733.

Another developer, the Larwin Construction Co., paid $63,900 to avoid owing $124,493 under the interim fee schedule. Under the new fee schedule, the company would owe $574,829.

Developers warn that the heftier park obligations will inflate prices of new homes because builders will merely pass on costs to buyers.

“They are going to be paying a lot of money,” cautioned Gloria Casvin, a vice president at the Valencia Co. “You add this on to the road fees and school fees--it’s tremendous.”

Casvin said it is “ridiculous” to collect large amounts of park revenue when the county does not have a long-range park plan to guide its expenditures. The county’s park blueprint was drawn up in the early 1970s, but park officials hope to update it by the end of the year.

Members of the Santa Clarita City Council, who are developing their own Quimby schedule, applauded the board’s move but expressed regret that it was not taken earlier.

Mayor Approves

“I think it’s a good move on their part,” Santa Clarita Mayor Howard P. (Buck) McKeon said. “It’s been so many years since they’ve been raised, we’re really lagging behind.”

Many homeowner activists remained cynical and questioned whether the park shortage ever could be alleviated.

“If this leads to money actually spent to create and operate parks for the public, if it’s really reform, I commend the supervisors and say it’s about time,” said Dave Brown, president of the Las Virgenes Homeowners Federation.

“I’m encouraged but not overly so because so much money has slipped through their fingers for development of parks,” said Michele Edmonson, who is a member of a group that has urged the county to turn a vacant lot it owns in Castaic into a park. “It’s kind of like spilled milk.”

DEVELOPERS’ PARK FEES

Based on the fair market value of one acre of land

Location Current Fee New Fee Agoura/Calabasas $59,444 $304,266 Topanga $47,524 $72,419 Newhall/Valencia $44,887 $203,873 Bouquet Canyon/ $22,801 $105,280 Canyon Country Agua Dulce/Acton $2,969 $27,477 Oat Mtn., Area $25,834 $152,012 North of Chatsworth Malibu $96,329 $251,553 East Malibu $212,029 $151,643