Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Complaints Stall Porta Bella Project : Development: Santa Clarita council declines to certify the environmental impact report for the area’s largest housing plan.

The largest housing development proposal in this city’s seven-year history has been delayed by a flurry of paperwork from residents fearing it will generate too much traffic, force several businesses to relocate and pose a health risk by disturbing toxic contaminants from a former munitions factory.

City Council members Tuesday night declined to certify the environmental impact report for the Porta Bella development after receiving 101 pages of letters, traffic documents and other written materials from residents.

“Every time we have a new meeting, a whole new slew of issues come in,” said Councilwoman Jo Anne Darcy.

“I would really like to see Porta Bella built,” Councilman Carl Boyer said. But he conceded that the groundbreaking for the 3,238-home project will not be in the immediate future. “I think the problem is, before it is to be built, a lot has to be done.”

As proposed by Northholme Partners, the project will be on a 996-acre site south of Soledad Canyon Road and east of San Fernando Road, adjacent to Santa Clarita’s proposed civic center. The plans include 1,678 single-family homes and 1,560 condominiums and apartments for an estimated 9,200 residents.

The Santa Clarita Planning Commission approved Porta Bella by a 4-1 vote in June after 15 public hearings and more than a year of deliberation.

At Tuesday’s meeting, the project’s environmental impact report was submitted to the council for its certification. But 20 residents--ranging from those living near the site to Saugus merchants on Springbrook Avenue, where a bridge proposed as part of the project would travel--said that the document did not address their concerns.

“My entire resources and my life are in my business,” said Leonard Long, who owns Leonard’s Molded Products. He complained that the bridge could drastically affect his business. “Think of how many businesses and families this will ruin.”

Sam Veltri, project manager for Porta Bella, said the development will benefit the area by improving traffic conditions through road construction, cleaning up toxic wastes on the site and preserving open space. He reminded council members that the city Planning Commission found enough merit in the project to approve it.

“Too often, when a project advances to a public hearing, the focus is on the criticism,” Veltri said.

“As I stand before you tonight, I wonder what more we can do or what more you might require of us.”

Placerita Canyon resident Christopher Townsley countered that the developer had not addressed the specific concerns of the project’s critics. “Somehow, I think I’ve heard this speech and seen these slides before,” Townsley said.

The environmental report for the Porta Bella project is scheduled to again be discussed at the City Council’s Nov. 22 meeting.