District Upset Over Treatment From Santa Clarita

A group of school district officials believes it has learned something from Santa Clarita: frustration.

Supt. Robert Nolet said the city has been more responsive to private developers than it has been to the Sulphur Springs school district’s plans to use a former school site as a shopping center.

In June, 1991, the district closed Soledad Canyon Elementary School, located on 9.13 acres near the intersection of Mandan Street and Luther Drive. The district hopes to demolish the school buildings and construct a 98,050-square-foot shopping center, which would generate lease revenues for the district.

Santa Clarita agreed to offset $125,000 in road fees for the project, but school district officials hoped for additional considerations.

“We think that, frankly, they could have made some exceptions and there were some long-term benefits to the children on the east end of the city,” Nolet said.

The district seeks to lease the property to generate funds for additional classrooms throughout the district. The district originally estimated earning $5.6 million from the shopping center over 30 years. That estimate has been reduced to $4.6 million because of costs including the $400,000 realignment of Luther Drive with Homyr Place, $250,000 in road fees, the loss of $35,000 in annual lease revenue and delays in securing construction financing.

“What we hoped the city would take notice of is how the realignment takes away from the value of the project,” Nolet said. “The best corner of the property was taken out by the realignment. What was left is a parking lot lease with McDonald’s.”

Santa Clarita City Manager George Caravalho recently wrote to the district, trying to put the fees into perspective with other development costs.

“They just don’t get it,” board member Scott Seamans said. “We appreciate their offer, but . . . “

District officials pointed to development agreements that allowed fee waivers for large commercial projects in Santa Clarita, saying they have not been given such consideration.

Seamans suggested a succinct, written response to Santa Clarita: “Thanks for nothing.”