SANTA CLARITA : New Annexation Attempt Launched

Residents of the Copper Hill neighborhood north of Santa Clarita are circulating annexation petitions, the eighth drive to expand Santa Clarita since the city was incorporated, residents and city officials say.

Marla Stark of the Copper Hill Annexation Group said residents of at least half the 721 homes in the neighborhood had signed the petitions.

She said the group had set itself an April 29 deadline to finish collecting signatures, which are not required for annexation but establish public opinion.

The Santa Clarita City Council will meet May 19 to begin annexation proceedings by considering whether to include Copper Hill in the city’s sphere of influence, said senior planner Don Williams, the city’s annexation coordinator.

About 2,200 people live in Copper Hill, which covers about 200 acres.

If successful, the annexation would be the eighth addition to the city, enlarging it to about 42 square miles. Williams said there are about half a dozen other areas that are in the process of being annexed.

Annexations must be approved by the Los Angeles County Local Agency Formation Commission and the council--and in some cases, the voters of the area--in a lengthy process.

Stark said most Copper Hill residents want to join the city because “we are so close and we have no say in anything and we want to vote on local issues.” She said one benefit would be that Copper Hill residents would no longer have to pay the 5% utility tax charged residents of unincorporated county areas.

Williams said residents and city officials hope to complete the annexation process by December, when the city plans to celebrate its fifth anniversary.