Newhall Land OKs Housing Concessions

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

James Harter, executive vice president of Newhall Land, 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, which overlook the planned 19-square-mile development in the Santa Clarita Valley.

Harter also said 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 the project would bring an increase in traffic.

Environmentalists and officials in the city of Santa Clarita, however, said Newhall Land’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 Lynne Plambeck, a member of SCOPE, the Santa Clarita Organization for Planning the Environment.

Added Santa Clarita City Council member Jan Heidt, “It’s 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 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 the company devote more of its area for open space.

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

With Newhall Ranch, Newhall Land 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 line near Magic Mountain.

Over a 25-year period, Newhall Ranch would house a population of 70,000 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 claim the area has some of the heaviest earthquake activity in the world.

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.

On Tuesday, Harter presented the opinions of engineers, seismologists and conservationists to contradict the contentions of opponents.

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

The next meeting will be held April 23 at the Planning Commission in downtown Los Angeles.