Santa Clarita May Annex Site Slated for Homes

Concerned about the effects of a proposed subdivision on its southern border, the Santa Clarita City Council is expected to launch an effort Tuesday to annex 555 acres where a developer hopes to build 5,800 homes.

Developer Las Lomas Land Co. plans a subdivision with an expected population of 15,000 people on the rugged, hilly property that many Santa Clarita residents value for the psychological distance it gives them from the rest of the Los Angeles area.

At its meeting tonight, the council will consider a resolution to become the agency that decides what to do with the unincorporated Los Angeles County land, which is east of the Golden State Freeway and west of the Antelope Valley Freeway. Another resolution will request to formally annex the land.

The developer has filed an application to have the property annexed into the city of Los Angeles. But Santa Clarita officials are worried that the project will snarl traffic, impede an important wildlife corridor and eventually include a shopping mall that will drain tax revenue from the city’s main shopping area in Valencia.

“This is a very bad idea -- for one, because they’d be taking down whole mountains” to build it, said Councilwoman Marsha McLean. “Since it’s going to affect our city so much, I believe we should have a say in it.”

Santa Clarita planning officials argue that the property is within a “logical boundary” of their city, which has “the most efficient provisions for municipal services, offering mutual social and economic interest to the future residents of the project site,” according to city documents.

If the resolution passes, the question will be taken up with the Local Agency Formation Commission, which handles annexation requests, City Manager Ken Pulskamp said.

Las Lomas Land Co. is a venture between Santa Monica-based Palmer Investments Inc., and Los Angeles investment group Southbrook Equities. Dan Palmer, the developer heading the project, could not be reached for comment Monday.

The City Council also plans to inaugurate a new mayor tonight -- 31-year-old Councilman Cameron Smyth, who is taking over from Frank Ferry in the council’s yearly rotating mayoral system.