Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : City OKs Flood-Control EIR Despite Concerns : Environment: The council approval paves the way for a $100-million project. Report notes water quality, traffic and wetlands will suffer.

Water quality degradation, temporary destruction to wetland habitats and increased traffic are among the unavoidable environmental impacts of a $100-million flood-control project the city of Palmdale is planning to commence next year.

The City Council in a 3-2 vote Monday, with members Teri Jones and David Myers dissenting, agreed to certify the Environmental Impact Report that predicted adverse effects of the Amargosa Creek Improvement Project. The council’s vote comes amid public concern about the project.

“We have prepared an exhaustive study of their (the city’s) draft EIR and we identified and spotlighted no less than 100 deficiencies in their report,” said Robert Mallicoat, president of the Leona Valley Town Council. “We didn’t just complain about it. We offered suggestions and alternative solutions to try and resolve these problems.”

The Leona Valley Town Council in June submitted to Palmdale a packet more than an inch thick in response to the city’s requests for comments on the EIR. More than two dozen individuals and agencies also submitted written comments about the document.

Originally intended as a flood-control project, the Amargosa Creek Improvement Project includes straightening and widening Elizabeth Lake Road and installing utilities, including sewer, water and electrical lines, along a nearly 10-mile path that generally runs from 75th Street West in rural Leona Valley on the west past Palmdale’s regional mall and east of the Antelope Valley Freeway.

Approval of the two-volume EIR paves the way for City Council approval of the improvement project, which is required for the development of the planned 7,200-house Ritter Ranch and 5,200-house City Ranch projects. The council has approved the two master-planned communities, which are expected to be developed over the next 15 to 20 years.

Steve Williams, Palmdale public works director, said the council will be asked to approve the Amargosa Creek Improvement Project and the formation of a community facilities district to finance it in early 1994. Construction would take 12 to 18 months and the city would sell bonds as needed to pay for the work.

Mayor Jim Ledford said many of the concerns about the environmental impacts of the improvement project can be addressed at the hearing next year. The EIR, he said, is based on a worst-case scenario and some of the adverse impacts may not be as severe as details of the improvements are determined.

Council members Jones and Myers were unsuccessful Monday in getting a council majority to approve sending the draft EIR to the Planning Commission for review. Jones and Myers also failed to get a two-week delay in certification of the EIR.

“An EIR of that magnitude needs as much public scrutiny and review as we can give it,” Myers said.

Mallicoat said he found it particularly interesting that during the hourlong public hearing nobody testified in support of the EIR, and while many people opposed it, the council still approved its certification.

“I’m inclined to think what they have done in overlooking these deficiencies really makes a sham of the report and the process,” he said.