Palmdale Annexation Proposal Draws Outcry From Residents : Growth: The city is asking to expand its sphere of influence to include 50 square miles of land where 7,200 homes are planned.

A plan by the city of Palmdale to annex 50 square miles of largely rural land drew angry opposition Wednesday from area residents who said they fear it signals the advent of massive development.

The area south and east of current city limits--nearly half the size of Palmdale--includes the site of one of the largest developments proposed for Southern California, the 7,200-residence Ritter Ranch project.

Members of the Local Agency Formation Commission, which rules on annexation proposals, postponed their vote until Aug. 14 in order to first visit the site. Palmdale is asking LAFCO to include the area in the city’s sphere of influence, which would give city planners more input in Los Angeles County planning and zoning decisions but is also a precursor to annexation.

At Wednesday’s LAFCO meeting, several residents of nearby Leona Valley and Acton--parts of which would be absorbed into Palmdale’s sphere of influence--said the Ritter Ranch project would destroy the region’s rural character.

“The reason for the sphere of influence . . . that everyone has pussyfooted around today is greed,” said Charles Brink, chairman of the planning committee for the Acton Town Council.

The few residents who spoke in favor of the proposal, including Ralph Ritter, whose family bought the Ritter Ranch land in the early 1900s, said urbanization is the logical evolution for the area.

“We always felt that after farming became a non-economic way of life, a planned community would be next,” Ritter said.

The development group proposing the 10,625-acre Ritter Ranch project is headed by entertainment industry executives Merv Adelson and Irwin Molasky, builders of the upscale La Costa resort near San Diego. It would add 20,000 residents to an area that is now populated by about 2,000 people, according to city planners and community representatives.

LAFCO Chairman Thomas E. Jackson downplayed the link between the expansion of Palmdale’s request for a larger sphere of influence and any future annexation of the Ritter Ranch project land.

“It may never come to pass that anyone in this sphere wants to annex, and we have to proceed on that premise,” Jackson said.

But Palmdale Assistant Planning Director Fred Buss said the city’s goal is to annex the Ritter Ranch area and another portion of the sphere of influence, directly south of current city limits, before the end of this year.

Opponents of the city’s request provided LAFCO with a census of the agricultural activity still going on in the area targeted for future annexation, although they conceded that it is primarily hobby farming, used only to supplement residents’ incomes.

LAFCO member Hal Bernson, a Los Angeles city councilman who represents the San Fernando Valley, likened their protests to attitudes prevalent in the Valley 100 years ago.

“Eventually, this area will develop. There’s no question about that,” Bernson said.

Bernson and several other commissioners said a planned community such as Ritter Ranch would be preferable to subdividing the land into smaller housing developments. Keeping the land under one ownership would allow preservation of more open space and better coordination of road, water and sewer improvements, they said.

“We have a tremendous opportunity not to let this occur the way Santa Clarita did,” said Commissioner Henri F. Pellisier, a Whittier businessman. “If they don’t get what they want, eventually it will be chopped into 100-acre parcels.”