In a letter dated November 13, 2007 to City of Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Supervisor Antonovich expressed his opposition to Las Lomas Project. The following is the entire letter as sent to Mayor Villaraigosa:

Dear Mayor Villaraigosa:
I am writing to express my opposition to the proposed “Las Lomas Project” north of the intersection of the 5 and 14 Freeways adjacent to the City of Santa Clarita.  The City of Los Angeles is currently processing the developer’s application to annex this property into the City of Los Angeles.

While the County General Plan, zoning, and Significant Ecological Area (“SEA”) limit development of the Las Lomas property to approximately 200 to 250 dwelling units, the developer is proposing to construct 5,800 dwelling units, nearly 3 million square feet of commercial, industrial, and retail uses, and a 300 room hotel on 555 acres.  The developer is aware of my long-standing opposition to development beyond these limits, which has been conveyed publicly and in the media.   His annexation request to find a more acceptable “forum” for his project sets a dangerous precedent and is bad public policy.  I strongly encourage the City to consider opposing the annexation, which would effectively terminate the project as proposed.

The Las Lomas property has slopes covering more than half of the property in excess of 50% slope, contains several prominent ridgelines, and has thousands of oak trees.  Development would require would require 20 million cubic yards of grading.  The property is already constrained in terms of ingress and egress, and this development would add approximately 72,000 daily vehicle trips, completely over-loading the Newhall Pass and the I-5/SR-14 interchange.  The developer’s proposed Metrolink station 300 feet underground, accessed by two elevator shafts, poses obvious health and safety risks to Metrolink users.

At this time the developer does not have an annexation request pending before the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO).  In December of 2006 LAFCO terminated the developer’s annexation request because “there has been no further effort on the part of Las Lomas to cure . . . deficiencies” associated with the application.  The public is justifiably confused that the City of Los Angeles continues to process an application for a project outside its boundaries, within County unincorporated areas, when there is no annexation request pending before LAFCO.

In addition to my concerns about Las Lomas, I understand that several Federal, State, and local elected officials, town councils, neighborhood councils, civic organizations, and many constituents throughout the Santa Clarita, San Fernando, and Antelope Valleys have expressed opposition.  I encourage you to oppose both the annexation and the project itself.

Thank you.
Sincerely,
MICHAEL D. ANTONOVICH
Supervisor

The letter was coped to the following individuals and Councils:  Honorable City Council, City of Los Angeles; Honorable Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors; Honorable Mayor and City Council, City of Santa Clarita; The Honorable Buck McKeon; The Honorable Brad Sherman; The Honorable Cameron Smyth, Assemblyman 38th District; The Honorable Alex Padilla, Senator 20th District; Agua Dulce Town Council; Castaic Area Town Council; West Ranch Town Council; Kagel Canyon Civic Association; Chatsworth Neighborhood Council; Chatsworth Community Coordinating Council; Granada Hills North Neighborhood Council; Granada Hills North South Neighborhood Council; Porter Ranch Neighborhood Council; Sunland-Tujunga Neighborhood; Sylmar Neighborhood Council; Mr. William T Fujioka; Mr. Bruce McClendon; Mr. Sandor Wingor, LAFCO