Santa Clarita to Sue in Bid to Overturn Housing OK : Lawsuits: The planned action will contend that the environmental impact report for the 2,555-unit tract is deficient. The project has been approved by county supervisors.

Santa Clarita will sue the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and a developer to overturn the board’s approval of a giant 2,555-unit housing tract on the outskirts of the city, officials said Wednesday.

The lawsuit, which could be filed next week, will contend that the environmental impact report for the tract is deficient and does not adequately assess the traffic problems that would be created by thousands of new residents, City Atty. Carl K. Newton said.

The council, meeting in closed session shortly after midnight Wednesday, voted to file the lawsuit against the supervisors and Dale Poe Development Co.

The tract is one phase of Stevenson Ranch, situated west of the Golden State Freeway and south of Six Flags Magic Mountain. If built to the size envisioned by company officials, the project would be about 10,000 houses and condominiums.

The environmental impact report focuses on traffic inside Stevenson Ranch but pays only slight attention to the impact of traffic flowing from the development into Santa Clarita, Newton said.

Newton said the city will seek a court order that would set aside the county’s approval of the project.

David H. Breier, an attorney for Dale Poe, dismissed the city’s criticism of the project. “I thoroughly believe in the adequacy of the EIR that was used,” he said. “I’m rather confident that the EIR will withstand a judicial attack.”

Taking up another development project Tuesday evening, the City Council formally denied plans to build the Santa Catarina condominium project, a controversial proposal by G.H. Palmer Associates that produced widespread opposition from homeowner groups that said the project was poorly planned and too large.

The council tentatively voted to kill the housing project July 24 but on Tuesday night adopted a resolution formally rejecting the project. The council has yet to decide, however, the fate of a proposed agreement that would grant Palmer Associates the right to develop three other projects, including an 800-unit condominium complex called The Colony in Canyon Country. The council has scheduled a public hearing on the agreement Aug. 28. The developer has offered to make substantial road improvements at no cost to the city.

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