Santa Clarita Wants City, County Plans Integrated

The Santa Clarita City Council, eager to have a greater voice in planning for the entire Santa Clarita Valley, wants to join Los Angeles County officials in creating the planning blueprint that will guide expansion in the fast-growing valley for the next 20 years.

City Manager George Caravalho said Monday that the city and county should coordinate their efforts to draft general plans for the region. At present, Santa Clarita and the county’s Department of Regional Planning are preparing separate plans for virtually the same area.

“They have to be put together and integrated,” Caravalho said. General plans provide overall guidelines for development, specifying zoning and setting development priorities in a region.

The City Council is expected to approve a letter tonight calling on County Supervisor Mike Antonovich to direct planning officials to coordinate their efforts with Santa Clarita. The county planning department is tentatively scheduled to complete a draft general plan for the Santa Clarita Valley next month.

City Wants to Catch Up

The city is about two to three months behind the county in drafting its general plan. Santa Clarita wants the county to delay its efforts to allow the city to catch up, Caravalho said.

Caravalho said the city and county staffs have had informal discussions about the county’s proposed general plan, but “we do not feel that is adequate.” The city would prefer a more formal coordination between the two governments, he said.

Caravalho said the city also hopes to learn more about how the county plans to process a backlog of 45 general plan amendments that, if approved, would provide 38,000 more dwelling units in the Santa Clarita Valley.

The City Council has often expressed interest in developments outside the city and has repeatedly said it wishes to annex as much of the surrounding unincorporated territory as possible.