Santa Clarita Seeks Wide Influence : Request for Say Over Huge Area Is Prelude to Annexation

Santa Clarita has formally submitted a proposal that would give the young city some say over the development of 160 square miles of the fast-growing Santa Clarita Valley--an area roughly comparable to the combined cities of Lancaster, Palmdale, Burbank and Pasadena.

The proposal is the city’s first step toward annexing the area, which makes up about one-third of the 500-square-mile Santa Clarita Valley. The proposal to establish the city’s “sphere of influence”--the area eligible for annexation--was hand-delivered to the Los Angeles County Local Agency Formation Commission on Monday.

The commission is a state-mandated agency that oversees annexations and incorporations. The City Council approved a draft of the sphere proposal in June.

The area includes the 39 square miles within the city limits plus another 160 square miles roughly bordered by the city of Los Angeles on the south, Ventura County on the west, Los Padres National Forest on the north and Angeles National Forest on the east. The area includes the community of Castaic but excludes Acton and Agua Dulce.

The proposed area also encompasses Elsmere Canyon, which is being considered by the city of Los Angeles, the county and a private developer as a dump site. Council members said they wanted to include Elsmere in the proposed sphere to demonstrate their interest in the future of the canyon.

The area includes all the land that LAFCO removed from the original boundaries proposed by cityhood proponents in 1987. Incorporation activists originally wanted a city of 90 square miles.

The city’s proposal said the large area is justified because the problems of growth and planning confronting Santa Clarita also face the entire valley. The principles of good planning demand that the valley be considered a single entity, the proposal said.

The City Council has said it hopes to annex as much of the valley as possible. The proposal notes that the city has already submitted one annexation request to LAFCO and is preparing five others, all within the proposed sphere of influence. The proposed annexations are scattered about the city’s periphery and cover at least 2,242 acres, the proposal said.