Reversal Urged on Newhall Project

Citing potential threats to ground water supplies and sensitive wildlife habitats, Ventura County officials and environmentalists urged a judge Thursday to overturn approval of the massive Newhall Ranch development in the Santa Clarita Valley.

Opponents charge that the environmental impact report on the 22,000-home suburb--the largest housing development approved in Southern California history--is flawed, and they want the court to require the developer to complete more detailed studies.

“The analysis has not been done adequately,” said Antonette Cordero, assistant county counsel for Ventura County, which last April sued Los Angeles County over its approval of the project.

But the attorney for the developer, Mark Dillon, argued in court that the builder had taken pains to address environmental concerns. Dillon said that more than half of the project area is to be preserved as open space, and that efforts have been taken to keep houses away from the most sensitive habitat areas along the Santa Clara River corridor.

He noted that biologists have spent four years studying the project, which has been revised to address specific concerns about fish and birds.

“A hard look was taken,” Dillon said. “There was considerable study, considerable analysis, considerable quantifying of the species and habitat.”

The two-day hearing was held in Kern County to avoid any potential legal conflicts. Attorneys for both sides are expected to wrap up arguments today. Superior Court Judge Roger D. Randall is expected to issue a ruling later.

The giant development by Valencia-based Newhall Land & Farming Co. would span 11,963 acres near Six Flags Magic Mountain. It would be built over 25 years and house nearly 70,000.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved the environmental report on the new suburb last year, triggering a legal battle that could stall the project for several years.

In its lawsuit, Ventura County contends that such large-scale development near pristine habitats would harm fish and bird species along the Santa Clara, which spills into the Pacific Ocean 85 miles downstream and is one of the state’s last wild rivers.

Dillon told the court several pages of the report were dedicated specifically to analysis of threatened wildlife.

Project opponents maintain that while Newhall Land has identified three potential water sources, it failed to adequately study whether those sources could support such a large development.

But Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich, in whose district the project would be built, has said Newhall Ranch would have to identify the water source for each set of new homes it applied to build.