Firm OKs Concessions in Newhall Ranch Housing Project

In a bid to ease opposition to its massive Newhall Ranch housing project, the Newhall Land & Farming Co. agreed to make several concessions Tuesday but opponents immediately labeled the effort as insufficient.

James Harter, executive vice president of Newhall, told the Los Angeles County Regional Planning Commission that the development company had decided not to place 15 large luxury homes in the ecologically sensitive Santa Susana Mountains that overlook the planned 19-square-mile development in the Santa Clarita Valley.

Harter also said that Newhall Land had agreed to perform an environmental review of the Salt Creek Canyon wildlife corridor before building a road in the area. The company also agreed to place a traffic signal in the neighboring community of Val Verde, where residents have complained about the increased traffic the project will bring.

Environmentalists and officials in Santa Clarita however, said that Newhall’s concessions were not nearly enough to change their opposition.

“I think in comparison to the impact of the project, [the promises are] minuscule,” said Lynn Plambeck, a member the Santa Clarita Organization for Planning the Environment.

Santa Clarita City Council member Jan Heidt added, “Its not enough.”

Harter announced Newhall Land’s willingness to make changes during the company’s presentation before the Planning Commission, which is expected to vote on the project this spring.

Commissioner Richard Wulliger requested more information, saying that he would probably oppose the development if the company continued with plans to build in the flood plain of the Santa Clara River.

Wulliger also requested that the population density of the project be reduced and that the company devote more area for open space.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and various state and federal agencies must also approve the project before construction begins.

With Newhall Ranch, Newhall Land & Farming Co. is seeking to create the largest master-planned housing development in the county’s history. It would be built in the Santa Clarita Valley between the Golden State Freeway and the Ventura County border near Magic Mountain.

Over a 25-year period, Newhall Ranch would grow to house 70,000 people in about 25,000 apartments, townhomes, condominiums and luxury homes.

But opponents have denounced the project, saying it would wreak havoc on local traffic, the environment and water supplies. Further, they say the area has experienced some of the heaviest earthquake activity on the Earth.

Newhall Land however, has maintained that the development is necessary and underscored by population projections predicting the county will need 26,000 new homes by 2010.

“We believe Newhall Ranch is one of the best planned and most environmentally sensitive projects in Los Angeles County history,” Harter told the commissioners.