Santa Clarita, Firm Near Agreement on City Aid for 1st Major Retail Center

Santa Clarita and Newhall Land & Farming Co. officials are expected to announce today an agreement that would provide city financial aid for the company’s proposed Valencia Town Center, the first major retail outlet in the region.

Mayor Jo Anne Darcy said Thursday morning that an agreement had been reached by city and company officials who had been negotiating since July. But a few hours later city officials said they were still hammering out final details of the pact.

“We’re very close,” city spokeswoman Gail Foy said. Foy and Marlee Lauffer, a Newhall Land spokeswoman, declined to discuss what had sidetracked the negotiations.

Any agreement is subject to approval by the City Council. That approval could come as early as Tuesday.

Newhall Land, the Santa Clarita Valley’s largest developer, in July asked the city to issue bonds to pay for $12.8 million in road improvements in and around the 80-acre mall.

A Newhall Land consultant said the $180-million project could not proceed without city financing. The bonds would be paid off with sales taxes generated by the mall and would not require the city to dip into its treasury, company officials said.

The City Council rejected the request for $12.8 million and ordered city staff members to negotiate a lower figure. As an enticement, Newhall Land has offered to let the city annex about 150 acres of company property.

Some residents have urged the city to turn its back on the company, saying local government should not subsidize a private enterprise, especially one as influential as Newhall Land.

Company officials countered that many California cities, including Burbank and Palmdale, have agreed to subsidize new malls by floating bonds that will be paid off with sales taxes.