To Save a Savannah : Santa Clarita: More than 50 protest as planning commissioners tour a Significant Ecological Area proposed for development.

As Los Angeles County planning commissioners toured the area Monday, more than 50 protesters demonstrated their opposition to a Santa Clarita Valley project in which a developer wants to build a golf course and housing tract on a sensitive environmental habitat.

The Regional Planning Commission will consider a proposal Thursday by Newhall Land & Farming Co. to build more than 1,900 houses and a golf course on 798 acres west of the Golden State Freeway that includes 300 acres of a county-designated Significant Ecological Area, or SEA.

The area, lying between Valencia Boulevard and McBean Parkway, is known as Valley Oaks Savannah, because it contains more than 1,000 oak trees on rolling grassland. Newhall Land’s plan calls for building about 350 houses and part of the golf course in the SEA, which would mean replacing 230 mature oaks with younger trees.

“This is a test case,” said Lynne Plambeck, a protester who marched outside the gate of the site on Valencia Boulevard. “You can’t just eliminate SEAs every time a developer wants.”

“I have loved this area even before the freeway was built,” said Jan Hinkston, another protester who carried a sign that said “Save the Forest.” “These rolling hills with oaks can’t be found anywhere else.”

To familiarize themselves with the project, all five commissioners toured the area, said Christine Abele, the panel’s secretary. None of the commissioners could be reached for comment.

Newhall Land said its cattle operations have already degraded the area, according to a draft environmental report. But the Significant Ecological Area Technical Advisory Committee, a panel of biologists that advises county planners on development in SEAs, has urged rejection of the project, saying that damage from overgrazing is no reason to allow overdevelopment to destroy the habitat altogether.

The county has designated 61 sites for protection under the county General Plan because of their value as plant and animal habitats. The General Plan does not bar development in SEAs but says development should receive special scrutiny and be compatible with natural resources.

Newhall Land spokeswoman Marlee Lauffer said Monday that the firm will continue to pursue the project, known as Westridge.

“SEATAC is just an advisory committee,” Lauffer said. “There is tremendous support in the community for a golf course and for the type of housing we will be offering in Westridge.”

The Planning Commission’s decision may be appealed to the County Board of Supervisors.