A Debate About Values

Los Angeles County will grow by 4 million people by the year 2020. Newhall Ranch would help meet the county’s need for homes and jobs for that population. It is a carefully planned new town that integrates environmental protection, a high quality of life and all necessary infrastructure and fiscal stability.

More than nine square miles--half the property--would be protected open space, including six square miles of high country that connects with public recreation and conservation areas in the Santa Susana Mountains. Also included is the preservation of five miles of the Santa Clara River as a meandering natural river, adjacent bluffs, oak-filled canyons, ridgelines and the Asistencia San Francisco Xavier historical site.

The community actively participated in the design of Newhall Ranch; 30 community task force meetings were held and thousands of people were surveyed to learn what features and qualities they wanted. Newhall Ranch would include such amenities as village centers, a lake, golf course, trails and views. Homes are planned for an array of economic and lifestyle needs. Fifty miles of bicycle and pedestrian trails would link villages and open spaces. Almost 60% of homes would be within walking distance of a commercial center. And Newhall Ranch would provide 19,300 permanent new jobs.

Sites and funding for five elementary schools and junior and senior high schools would be provided, regardless of the availability of state funds.

The community would have quick access to seven regional freeways. We would extend and widen existing roadways, build new interchanges and add more than 30 miles of new arterial roads and provide for future Metrolink service. We would pay for transportation improvements in Santa Clarita and in Ventura County.

Newhall Ranch would not take water from existing users or increase the use of local ground water. A water reclamation plant paid for by the project would supply reclaimed water for approximately one-third of the community’s needs. The remainder would come from existing water rights and new acquisitions of state water. The environmental impact report also incorporates measures to assure that there would be adequate traffic improvements; sufficient water; necessary schools, libraries, fire stations and parks; and no downstream flooding or water quality impacts.

The costs of infrastructure would be paid for by the development and costs of ongoing governmental services would be funded by taxes from future residents of Newhall Ranch. A huge side benefit would be the $20-million annual surplus generated to the county.

Our company has been the steward of this beautiful land for more than a century. Newhall Ranch would open it to the public for the first time and would provide homes, jobs and recreation for generations. Newhall Ranch is truly a community by nature and is proof that nature and human communities can live in harmony.