Santa Clarita, Developer Agree to Resume Talks on Project

The Santa Clarita City Council, ending a stalemate with a developer, agreed Tuesday night to go back to the bargaining table to negotiate an agreement that could give the city millions of dollars in new roads in exchange for the council’s approval of a controversial condominium project.

The council, which last month said it would approve no more than 800 units for the project, backed down from that position Tuesday, saying it would consider--but not guarantee--a maximum of 1,292 units for the Santa Catarina development.

The council, by a 3-2 vote, told city planners to resume negotiations with G.H. Palmer Associates, which originally had proposed 1,452 units for the 135 acres in Canyon Country.

Council members Jo Anne Darcy, Carl Boyer III and Howard P. (Buck) McKeon said they hoped a compromise could be worked out that would give the city badly needed roads.

Negotiations between the city and Palmer Associates deadlocked last month when developer Dan Palmer said an 800-unit project was not financially feasible.

Palmer and City Manager George Caravalho exchanged sharp words in letters last week, each accusing the other of negotiating in bad faith. Palmer said the “hackneyed NIMBY criticisms” of homeowners opposed to the project confused the council.

At Tuesday night’s council meeting, Councilwoman Jan Heidt curtly said, “I feel personally insulted that the council was called confused.” She added that there was no dishonor in being called a NIMBY--a widely used acronym for “not in my back yard”--saying Santa Clarita residents just want to preserve their way of life.

“NIMBY-ism gave this valley a city,” she said.