Newhall Ranch Sides to Square Off Before Supervisors

The long-running war over Newhall Ranch--a 25,000-home development proposed by the giant Newhall Land & Farming Co. near the Ventura County border--moves to a new battlefield today, when the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors is scheduled to begin public hearings on the project.

In what promises to be a classic California battle over land, water and suburban sprawl, opponents and proponents have been sharpening their arguments for nearly a year and a half, as the proposal for a new town moved slowly through the Regional Planning Commission, which approved it last December.

If approved in its current form, Newhall Ranch will be built over 30 years into a town of 70,000.

Planners and the developer say the mammoth project marks a new wave in the design of urban areas, providing as it does an opportunity to plan the whole town at once, rather than piece by piece.

“Because it’s one landowner,” said Newhall Land spokeswoman Marlee Lauffer, “you’re able to look at the project and make a comprehensive plan.”

But opponents say that this is nothing more than old-style Southern California growth, spurred by a powerful, well-connected developer and oblivious to the real needs of the community.

Already, Ventura County has appealed the planning board’s decision, contending that the environmental studies done for the project ignore the impact it will have on sensitive land in that county.

The environmental impact report, said Ventura County Supervisor Kathy Long, should be “re-scoped, rewritten and recirculated,” and the project significantly scaled down.

Echoing concerns raised by environmentalists and some flood-control experts, she said houses should not be located near the banks of the Santa Clara River.

“I would like to see homes moved out of the flood plains, to protect the habitat, protect the trail system, protect against anybody’s home being endangered by another El Nino,” said Long, who plans to address the board at today’s hearing. “That would mean reduction of at least 3,000 homes.”

Ventura County officials also contend they should have had some say in the zoning plan created for the project, since several thousand acres of Newhall’s land bleed into that county. A long legal battle promises to ensue, whether or not Los Angeles County supervisors lend their approval.

“It’s just urban sprawl,” complained environmentalist and slow-growth advocate Lynn Plambeck. “We need to, for the benefit of society, look at building another way. We have to stop going out and eating up all of our agricultural land.”

The Santa Clarita Organization for Planning the Environment, of which Plambeck is vice president, is sending two busloads of protesters to the supervisors meeting, and Plambeck expects about 150 people to show up.

Opposition to the project has also been voiced by the city of Santa Clarita and school officials, who say the developer does not plan to spend enough to relieve overcrowding in the already taxed Hart Union High School District.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich, whose district includes the 12,000-acre Newhall Ranch site, said he plans to take a close look at the project. He expressed concerns about its size, as well as questions about funding for schools and environmental impacts.

He pointed to another project on Tuesday’s agenda, the sharply scaled-back Tesoro Del Valle development, as evidence that the board has begun to significantly change proposals even after they are approved by the planning board. That project has been reduced from nearly 3,000 units to 1,600, and may be reduced even further.

“Just because the Regional Planning Commission voted unanimously for the project does not mean that the board will approve it in the same form,” Antonovich said. “We want to assess the entire package.”