Guest Commentary: The impact of the North Newhall Specific Plan

At the same time, one of Casden’s vice presidents was making presentations to various local Civic groups proposing 1500 units on this 100 Acre parcel. That doesn’t sound horrendous until you consider the following:

1. The parcel is zoned for a Business Park.
2. The parcel is wholly within the Placerita Canyon Special Standards District which is part of Santa Clarita’s Uniform Development Code (UDC). The Special Standards District provides for preservation of our “rural equestrian lifestyle” and is zoned for no more than two homes per acre.
3. The majority of the parcel was then zoned as a Floodplain, and has since been re-surveyed by FEMA and is proposed to be upgraded to a Floodway (an area subject to even more intense flooding).
4. The parcel is crossed by a large MWD right of way, further reducing the buildable area.

Placerita Canyon residents were up in arms. We drew up a letter acknowledging a landowner has the right to develop his property, but within the parameters established by the City (i.e., Business Park). We proposed several concepts which would be synergistic to the Downtown Newhall Specific Plan: a small upscale inn with shops and restaurants like San Diego’s Gaslight District, a Sports Complex, an Equestrian Center and Trailhead.

We collected more than 500 signatures in less than two weeks and presented these letters to City Council. We were told then, and are still being told, that our concerns were premature since no project had been presented to the City.

Several months later, two City officials proposed to the Board of Directors of Placerita Canyon Property Owners’ Association (PCPOA) that we urge the City to establish a Specific Plan to cover the area. A Specific Plan, like a Master Plan, lays the entire proposal out. There are negatives, that of greatest concern being that once a Specific Plan is adopted, the old rules and zoning requirements are dropped, and interpretation of what can or cannot be allowed rests with City Staff.

Even with this concern, the Board agreed it was likely the best way to go and sent a letter to the City to this effect. There was one caveat included: the plan adopted had to be compatible with our Special Standards District.

In September 2006, the City conducted a Charrette, intended to bring members of the community, designers, City personnel and officials, City Council members and developers together in a multi-day working session, relating to design and development constraints and opportunities, including factors affecting the highest and best use of properties located within the boundaries of the NNSP. 

At the present time, Placerita Canyon residents cross the railroad tracks at 13^th street. Under the circulation proposal of the Charrette, this crossing would be closed. At present, Placerita Canyon has:

• 400 homes
• 3 active churches
• A large Pre-School
• Master’s College
• Melody Ranch, an active movie studio
• 2 large equestrian facilities with frequent events
• Small commercial area

The closure of 13^th Street means all the above traffic will be brought over to Dockweiler which will be extended to Lyons Avenue with an at-grade crossing. Dockweiler presently has:

• Approximately 300 homes (Lantana, Hidden Knolls, and the Vista condos)
• McGrath Elementary School

The NNSP proposes the addition of:

• 600,000 square feet of commercial/industrial space (in the above-mentioned Floodway)
• 650 homes
• A rebuilt Southern Hotel/Spa
• 40,000-50,000 square feel of neighborhood retail
• (potentially) an Elementary School

There are additional concerns attached to the at-grade crossing:

• The railroad signal arms at13^th Street come down if the Metrolink train goes just a few yards past the target point at Newhall Station. With the Lyons/Dockweiler configuration, the arms will descend every time a train is stopped at the station. With gasoline prices at their present level, the most economic means to ship goods is by train; trains will become longer and far more numerous, halting traffic even more often and for longer periods. The PUC has preliminarily denied this crossing, but the Santa Clarita City Council has voted nearly $250,000 for a study to convince the PUC to allow the at-grade crossing.
• “Pass Through” traffic is a major concern. Shortly after the Charrette, Santa Clarita commissioned a study which showed that to keep traffic flowing, there would need to be three left turn lanes to accommodate the additional traffic from Valencia and the Westside. That would mean the intersection would approximate that at Bouquet and Soledad.
• At the Charrette, the designers were leaning heavily towards a roundabout to distribute the traffic flow. Coming into town, traffic would come down a steep grade, go through the Roundabout and then, in very short order, encounter three traffic lights. I have nightmares about having a fire in Placerita Canyon, having someone with a horse trailer have a problem navigating the roundabout, and tie up Dockweiler, so that nobody can get out and emergency personnel cannot get in.

I recently wrote a letter to The Signal about “Urban Villages.” In that letter, I proposed the City follow a precept stated in the Hippocratic Oath, “First of all, do no harm.” I submit the NNSP does a great deal of harm to existing residents – not just those in Placerita Canyon, but those along Dockweiler and indeed throughout Santa Clarita.

Valerie Thomas

Commentary

Val Thomas is a 30-year resident of Placerita Canyon, a former teacher, Realtor, and curious Santa Clarita Valley resident. Her commentaries represent her own opinions and not necessarily the views of any organization she may be affiliated with or those of the West Ranch Beacon.