Huge Canyon Country Housing Project OKd

A developer was guaranteed the right to build more than 3,000 homes, apartments and condominiums in Canyon Country during the next 12 years under an agreement approved Thursday by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.

As part of the pact, Shapell-Monteverde agreed to contribute $1 million toward building a bridge that Supervisor Mike Antonovich said is vital to relieving traffic congestion in the eastern Santa Clarita Valley.

Although Shapell-Monteverde will still need county approval when it submits detailed plans for the project, the agreement secures the company’s right to build on 900 acres of vacant land south of Bouquet Canyon Road and east of Plum Canyon Road. The project would be exempt, for example, if the county passed a building moratorium.

The agreement was approved by a 3-1 vote after lengthy debate on the obligations of developers to provide funds to construct new schools. Two Santa Clarita school districts opposed the development, saying it would overburden already crowded school systems.

Wendy H. Wiles, an attorney representing the William S. Hart Union High School District and Saugus Union Elementary School District, said the two districts would have to build 58 new classrooms to accommodate the new students generated by the development.

“It is clear this project will have a serious impact on the school districts,” Wiles told the supervisors.

In response, Supervisor Edmund D. Edelman moved that Shapell-Monteverde be required to form a special assessment district to raise funds for school construction. Such a district would raise money by selling bonds that would be paid off over several years by homeowners living in the district.

But at the urging of Antonovich, the board rejected Edelman’s suggestion. Antonovich said that forcing the developer to raise such funds would violate a state Court of Appeal ruling this week that said five Santa Clarita school districts had no constitutional right to impose special taxes on new development to build schools.

Antonovich praised the agreement as a way to lessen the Santa Clarita Valley’s traffic woes.

“Ed, there is a critical road problem there,” said Antonovich, asking for Edelman’s support.

Edelman later replied, “I think schools are as important as roads.”

Edelman Votes No

Edelman cast the single no vote when Antonovich, joined by Supervisors Deane Dana and Peter F. Schabarum, voted to approve the agreement, a conditional-use permit and a tentative tract map needed to launch the project. Supervisor Kenneth Hahn was absent.

William D. Ross, a Shapell-Monteverde attorney, said the company made many concessions to the city of Santa Clarita and a citizens group, which expressed concern about the project’s impact on traffic. Aside from contributing $1 million toward the bridge, Shapell-Monteverde scaled back the project from 7,000 units to 3,202, Ross said.

The project has two phases. The phase approved Thursday calls for 1,297 homes and 1,203 condominiums and apartments--2,500 units in all. The development will also include a 13-acre shopping center, a park and a fire station.

An earlier phase already approved by the supervisors calls for 702 homes to be built on about 300 acres. The development agreement guarantees completion of both phases.

The agreement also requires Shapell-Monteverde to connect Whites Canyon and Plum Canyon roads to help create a major north-south artery between Bouquet Canyon Road and Sierra Highway.