Public Hearing Set on New Pitts Ranch Plan

Developers of the Pitts Ranch area want to revise their plans to create a project that is largely residential.

The original plan--approved in 1989 for the area south of Upland Road, between Lewis Road and Calleguas Creek--called for Pardee Construction to convert 211 acres from row crops and orchards to a combination of residential, industrial and public uses.

The new plan, scheduled for discussion at a city Planning Commission public hearing tonight, proposes to shift the location of the community park and reduce it from 16 to 10 acres to allow for an elementary school.

The new plan also proposes leaving 35 acres, originally designed for a mobile home park, as open space.

There will be two sites for apartments and three areas for about 621 single-family houses, said Mike McGee, senior vice president of Pardee Construction.

There has been a greater demand for housing than for industry, McGee said.

Although the Pitts Ranch plan has designated property for an elementary school, the Pleasant Valley School District has no money set aside to build and operate the school.

It will cost approximately $10 million to build a school for 740 children, said Howard Hamilton, the district’s associate superintendent.

The only way the district will be able to fund the school is through a bond election, Hamilton said.

The school board will decide Thursday whether a bond issue will be put on the November ballot to build new schools and refurbish existing schools, Hamilton said.