Planners Voice Concerns Over Industrial Park Plan

Los Angeles County planning commissioners said Wednesday that they are concerned about noise and traffic which could be created by a proposed industrial park near Castaic and told the project’s developer to work with nearby residents to resolve the problems.

The developer, Newhall Land and Farming Co., said it was willing to redesign portions of the project to reduce noise and traffic, but some homeowners living near the site said they doubted that the company would address all of their concerns.

“They’re not trying to resolve the problems the community has brought up,” said Lester Freeman, president of the Live Oak Community Assn., after a 2 1/2-hour hearing before the Regional Planning Commission.

At issue is the Valencia Commerce Center, an industrial park that would be built on 1,436 acres west of the Golden State Freeway and north of California 126 in the Santa Clarita Valley. The park would provide 12 million square feet of office and manufacturing space.

About 60 residents of Live Oak and adjoining housing tracts attended Wednesday’s hearing. Their leaders told the planning commissioners that the park, as proposed, would destroy the quality of life in the area. The residents made unemotional, often technical comments about the project’s design and introduced aerial photographs to make their points.

They charged that parts of the environmental impact report on the project were based on faulty data. “It puts economic gain before the health and safety of the community at this time,” Marcella Tyler Ketelhut said of the report.

But Ketelhut said the residents were willing to work with Newhall Land to develop a safe industrial park. “We’re not seeking a complete stop to this project,” Ketelhut said.

Commissioner Clinton C. Ternstrom, who represents the Santa Clarita Valley, said he shared the concerns of residents about heavy traffic entering the park via Backer Road, which passes directly behind a residential street that is northeast of the proposed park.

Ternstrom said Newhall Land will have to prove that the noise and traffic problems can be controlled. “I’m going to press this point,” he said.

Newhall Land officials will meet with residents to discuss the latest modifications to the park plan. The commission scheduled another public hearing on the industrial park Oct. 25.