Newhall Ranch Sides to Square Off as Hearings Open

The long-running war over Newhall Ranch--a 25,000-home development proposed near the Ventura County border--moves to a new battlefield today, when the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors is scheduled to begin public hearings on the project.

In what promises to be a classic California battle over land, water and suburban sprawl, opponents and proponents have been sharpening their arguments for nearly a year and a half, as the proposal for a new town moved slowly through the Regional Planning Commission, which approved it last December.

If approved in its current form, Newhall Ranch, to be built by the giant Newhall Land & Farming Co., will be built over 30 years to create a town of 70,000.

A large Ventura County contingent, including Supervisors Kathy Long and John K. Flynn, will attend the hearing to express concerns about the development’s impact on the Santa Clara Valley.

Planners and the developer say the mammoth project marks a new wave in the design of urban areas, providing as it does an opportunity to plan the whole town at once, rather than piece by piece.

“Because it’s one landowner,” said Newhall Land spokeswoman Marlee Lauffer, “you’re able to look at the project and make a comprehensive plan.”

But opponents say this is nothing more than old-style Southern California growth, spurred by a powerful, well-connected developer and oblivious to the real needs of the community.

Already, Ventura County has appealed the Planning Commission’s decision, contending that the environmental studies done for the project ignore the effect it will have on sensitive land in that county.

Officials also contend they should have had some say in the zoning plan created for the project, since several thousand acres of Newhall’s property are located within Ventura County. A long legal battle promises to ensue whether or not the Los Angeles County supervisors lend their approval.

“It’s just urban sprawl,” complained environmentalist and slow-growth advocate Lynn Plambeck. “We need, for the benefit of society, to look at building another way. We have to stop going out and eating up all of our agricultural land.”

The Santa Clarita Organization for Planning the Environment, of which Plambeck is vice president, is sending two busloads of protesters to the supervisors meeting, and Plambeck expects about 150 people to show up.

Opposition to the project has also been voiced by the city of Santa Clarita, and local school officials, who say the developer does not plan to spend enough to relieve overcrowding in the already taxed Hart Union High School District.

County Supervisor Mike Antonovich, whose district includes the 12,000-acre Newhall Ranch site, said he plans to take a close look at the project. He expressed concerns about its size, as well as questions about funding for schools and environmental impacts.

He pointed to another project on today’s agenda, the sharply scaled-back Tesoro Del Valle development, as evidence that the board has begun to significantly change proposals even after they are approved by the Planning Commission.

That project has been reduced from nearly 3,000 units to 1,600 and may be reduced even further.

“Just because the Regional Planning Commission voted unanimously for the project does not mean that the board will approve it in the same form,” Antonovich said. “We want to assess the entire package.”

Times staff writer Miguel Bustillo contributed to this story.