Developer Warned to Scale Back Project : Santa Clarita: An environmental report says a 1,296-acre housing and commercial complex will create traffic problems.

A proposed 1,880-unit housing and commercial development east of the Antelope Valley Freeway in Santa Clarita should be significantly reduced in size because it would inevitably cause traffic jams, according to an environmental report released Monday.

Santa Fe Development Corp. of Sacramento wants to build the residential and commercial complex on 1,296 acres of unincorporated Los Angeles County land between the freeway and Placerita Canyon and Sand Canyon roads.

But some Santa Clarita City Council members said Monday that the firm will probably have to scale back its plans, as the environmental report recommends.

“I seriously doubt they’ll ever get this amount of density,” Councilwoman Jo Anne Darcy said.

“I told them from day one that they were asking too much. The freeway can’t handle it,” said Councilwoman Jill Klajic.

The project would include an 18-hole public golf course, up to 2.4 million square feet of commercial development and land donated by the developer for two public schools, a park and a fire station.

Although the property is now located outside Santa Clarita, the development firm asked the city to annex it after the county indicated it would not change the zoning to allow construction of the project, said Mark Loscher, a spokesman for the developer.

As part of the lengthy annexation process, an environmental impact report on the project must be prepared and certified by the city before the state can grant the city jurisdiction over the property.

The environmental report released Monday was prepared by a private consultant chosen by the city and paid by the developer. It states that the proposed project would generate about 91,988 vehicle trips daily and would cause traffic problems that could not be avoided, even with substantial road improvements.

The proposed project would also require an amendment to the city’s recently approved General Plan, a state-mandated blueprint for development. City officials have vowed to amend the plan as infrequently as possible to avoid the rampant growth that occurred under county supervision before the city was incorporated 3 1/2 years ago.

The plan allows a maximum of only 650 housing units on the Santa Fe property.

However, the environmental report concludes that the “environmentally superior” alternative to the proposed project would contain only 325 houses and no golf course or commercial development.

Loscher said Santa Fe is confident it can work out a compromise and will meet with local homeowners and city officials in the next several months.

The city must rule on the project before annexation can occur. Both the Planning Commission and the council will hold public hearings on the project after Sept. 12, the deadline for government agencies and the public to comment on the environmental report.