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County Action November 24th
City Actions Questionable
The culmination of months of hearings and debate on the Newhall Ranch project came to a close on November 24th, when the LA County Board of Supervisors voted to close public comment and tentatively approve the project. Most observers expect final approval will not take place until at least February, because of procedural issues. Although reduced to approximately 21,000 homes, Newhall Ranch remains the largest development in Los Angeles County and still presents substantial environmental impacts and negative effects on the quality of life in the SCV.
Recent actions by the City of Santa Clarita to resolve these issues have, meanwhile, been shrouded in mystery after the matter was discussed as an emergency measure at a recent Council meeting. In spite of the overwhelming public concern about the Newhall Ranch project, including traffic, the City chose to not agendize the proposed agreement regarding the open space. This agreement included a new "neutral" position on the project. The Council approved adding this item as an "emergency" item to the agenda. Luckily some SCOPE members that were watching the proceedings on public access television, ran down to the meeting to protest. With the help of Councilwoman Jill Klajic and Mayor Jan Heidt, the neutral position platform was removed, so the City is still officially opposed to the Newhall Ranch project.
However, SCOPE remains very disturbed about the obvious effort made by certain Councilmembers to illegally exclude public input on this very important matter. We therefore filed a complaint with the City under the Ralph M. Brown Act. This Act requires items to be placed on agendas and published at least 72 hours in advance of a public meeting.
Many questions still surround the Newhall Ranch Project. Although changes were made to require a water source to be identified at tract map approval, many organizations including SCOPE question why a plan amendment of this size would be approved without an identified water source. And of course there is the question of need. With 40.000 units already approved but not built in the Santa Clarita Valley, everyone wonders how a plan amendment of this size can be justified.
It’s not too late to write the Supervisors and object to this destructive project:
Executive Office
Please Copy to All Supervisors
LA County Board of Supervisors
500 W. Temple St.
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Project Moves to Supervisors After Extensive Debate at RPC
The Valley Oak Savannah Significant Ecological Area between Valencia and McBean just west of I-5 is a step closer to being changed forever into a golf course and residential housing after the Los Angeles County Regional Planning Commission, on a 4-1 vote, sent the project on to the Board of Supervisors.
In 1993, SCOPE won a legal judgement against this project for its failure to adequately provide for impacts to schools and libraries and to address air pollution. This decision led to school agreements with developers all over the Valley that substantially increased fees for new school facilities. Finally, this last October, a library fee agreement was also reached that will ensure new development pays for the books and facilities that it requires. These are huge wins for the residents of the Santa Clarita Valley, and improvements to this project. We are proud of our roll in making this happen and grateful to all those that gave so freely of their time and money
Now although schools and libraries have been addressed, this new project still destroys 50% of the Valley Oaks Savannah and removes 147 rare Valley Oaks, replacing them with a six-lane road, golf course and houses. It adds another 1700+ houses to Santa Clarita’s existing backlog of 40,000 approved but unbuilt houses.
Newhall Land has touted this golf course as an "International Audubon" approved course and tried to make it sound environmentally approved. However, International Audubon is NOT the respected environmental group "National Audubon Society" but rather an organization funded largely by golf interests that took advantage of the failure of Audubon to trademark its name. It has "certified" golf courses all over the US that have been opposed and legally challenged by environmental groups.
Another concern expressed by the public was that the golf course, once approved would not remain public. The Regional Planning Commission sought to address this problem by requiring the course to remain public for 15 years. However, Newhall Land opposes this condition and has appealed it to the Supervisors.
We hope you will join us on February 23rd at the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to express you opinions about this project. Or write them a letter (see address at end of Newhall Ranch article) and tell them what you think. Your letters and attendance will make a difference!
Aqueduct Capacity Is Inadequate
It was an issue raised by challengers in the recent CLWA election, and was confirmed only post-election by the Castaic Lake Water Agency General Manager at a Board meeting on November 12th: CLWA can continue to buy entitlements to additional water, but lacks the right to deliver that water to the Santa Clarita Valley.
During the last decade, despite this known deficiency, CLWA officials never clarified the true state of CLWA water affairs and never objected when developers cited Castaic Lake Water Agency’s total water entitlement as being sufficient for plan amendments and zone changes. However, as demand increases in the Valley for more imported water from CLWA, these "omissions" are expected to come home to roost.
In the land-use approval arena water availability has often been given scant attention, despite it being an important feature in the Development Monitoring System (DMS). There was no consideration of reliability, despite the fact that both local and imported water supplies are variable. The City and County relied solely on numbers provided by a water retailer for a project. (On some occasions SCOPE has had to point out that the wrong water supplier was identified in the application!) On all occasions the water retailer (often the wholly-owned subsidiary of the developer) presented Agency entitlements as a 100% reliable imported water supply, and the retailer was entitled to and could deliver all of the Agency water they needed to purchase to support more development.
Reality is that CLWA’s ability to deliver imported water to Santa Clarita Valley retailers is a lot less than was presented when plan amendments and zone changes have been considered. This is due to multiple reasons:
1. Point of Delivery
The State Water Project was organized among 31-odd contractors. The
water starts at Oroville Dam in the Sierras north of Sacramento and flows
through the Sacramento River, the Delta, and the California Aqueduct to
points south. The aqueduct and pumping facilities were sized to distribute
this water among the contractors. CLWA bought the Devil’s Den water entitlement
of 12,700 Acre-Feet/Yr in 1988, but this only provides water to a dusty
San Juaquin Valley location, not to the SCV. CLWA does not have the right
in the SWP to deliver this water to the SCV. The same is true with the
additional 41,000 AF/Y CLWA is now trying to purchase. CLWA may buy the
entitlements, but additional expenses are necessary to secure the rights
to have this water delivered to Castaic Lake. To date these rights have
not been purchased (so CLWA cannot deliver the additional water to Castaic
Lake), the cost for this right is unknown, the funding for this right is
unknown, and today the Agency cannot commit to deliver any of this water
to Castaic Lake. Bottom Line: While the Agency may claim 54,200 AF/Y of
water entitlement today and 95,200 AF/Y of water entitlement tomorrow,
all that can be delivered to Castaic Lake and the SCV is 41,500 AF/Y, or
less than half the new planned entitlement.
2. Raw (Untreated) Water Storage
Castaic Lake is used to store raw State water for both CLWA and the
Metropolitan Water District (MWD). Of the two, MWD owns nearly all the
rights to the lake. If CLWA buys the aqueduct rights to deliver more water
to Castaic Lake, but hasn’t bought rights from MWD to store the raw water
in the lake, no additional water is available yet to the Santa Clarita.
This is an additional expense at an unknown cost, and a date uncertain.
3. Raw Water Delivery
CLWA has their own pipeline for raw water from Castaic Lake to the
Earl Schmidt treatment plant, but never built a similar pipeline to Rio
Vista. Instead, they use part of the MWD pipeline. Getting additional capacity
on this pipeline is more expense, at an unknown cost, and a date uncertain.
4. Treatment Plant Capacity
Assuming no cutbacks in supply, CLWA can treat about 31,000 AF/Y of
water for distribution in the SCV. This is the combined treatment capacity
of the Schmidt and Rio Vista plants, and should be considered the limit
for near-term projects.
5. Distribution Capacity
It is unclear whether CLWA has the pipelines and turnouts necessary
and sufficient to deliver treated water to the retailers at the needed
point-of-use.
6. SWP Reliability
All State Water Project imported water is subject to considerations
of reliability for drought. According to Valencia Water Company responses
to a Public Utilities Commission inquiry, both VWC and CLWA plan for 95%
reliability, i.e, 19 years out of 20 CLWA will get needed water.
"Reliable water" is always some fraction of entitlement. Entitlement has been the number used in Environmental Impact Reports (EIRs) for new development, but SCOPE feels that "reliable water" should be considered.
"Reliable" SWP water via CLWA, at 95% reliability, is probably 40-50% of CLWA entitlement that they can deliver to the treatment plants and deliver to the retailers within the time horizon of the project. Considering CLWA has secured no rights to more aqueduct transport and Castaic Lake storage, we consider the baseline CLWA water availability to be 41,500 AF/Y, and 50% of that is 20,750 AF/Y, which is what CLWA is currently providing to existing customers!
The end conclusion is that CLWA has no additional, reliable water that it can deliver to retailers for distribution to new development. Projects asking for more imported water as part of their plan amendments should recognize and address this issue.
Michael Kotch, SCOPE President
Santa Clarita’s "Y2K" Problem
It is hoped by some that the Millennium will muck up County and City computers enough that past land use approvals will no longer be valid. Hoard your food, make sure you have cash out of the ATM, make sure you have gas in the car, but don’t count on any Year 2000 problems to mess up ongoing land use approvals in the SCV; the developers simply won’t allow it, and are committed to going back to being hand-scribes to ensure that their development extension approvals will remain valid.
Santa Clarita’s ‘Y2K’ problem is not the roll-over of years at the Millennium, but the number of projects approved, but not yet built. As Y2000 approaches, projects approved back in the 80’s are now being built, much to the distress of residents who have lived here in the last decade. And, as we shall see, those projects equal Yet Another Newhall Ranch.
This is all perfectly legal. Developers are normally required to ‘put up or shut up’ (build a project or lose entitlement) within 3 years. During the 90’s the Wilson Administration pushed laws through the State Legislature that made all these development approvals open-ended.
The result was a total uncertainty and hodge-podge of "planning" for such areas as the SCV.
In normal circumstances, projects that were not viable would have died a natural death in the planning process. Neither the State nor the County made any provision that the death of these projects would cause the plan amendments and/or zone changes to revert to original conditions, but the projects themselves would die.
What we see happening in much of the SCV with the new growth are zombie projects that were approved 10 years ago, and, because of developer lobbying, don’t have to meet modern conditions for development or mitigation.
SCV’s "Y2K" problem is projects that refuse to die, but saddle our SCV with unmitigated impacts.
Nordstrom is a well-recognized department store that is based in Seattle and has developed a reputation for quality goods and excellent customer service, both at point-of-sale and on any issues of exchanges or returns.
Local papers and some City surveys have indicated a demand for Nordstrom as a preferred retail outlet in the Santa Clarita Valley, and there have been Business Section articles in local papers and in City announcements that support a Nordstrom in the SCV, preferably at the Valencia Town Center as another Anchor Store.
Local papers and City surveys have not evaluated how many existing local businesses would go bankrupt because they could not compete with a Nordstrom presence. Have we forgotten the lessons so recently learned from the Valencia MarketPlace? After those stores opened in the County sending much needed local tax dollars downtown, we lost many stores on Lyons Ave. These included our much loved Holiday Hardware, Art Showcases EggHead Software and two bookstores, limiting our shopping opportunities and further depleting our tax base.
Chain stores - stores with multiple outlets and not headquartered in the SCV - now are estimated to represent at least 80% of Santa Clarita sales for hard goods and services. We are therefore, already in a situation in which 80% of profits from sales in the Santa Clarita Valley go elsewhere.
"Ecology of Fear"
by Mike Davis
Check out this new book that was on the local bestseller list for 14 weeks! Its all about Los Angeles and how we have "wrecked havoc on our corner of the world" (according to the Los Angeles Times). MacArther Foundation award winning author, Mike Davis even talks about the Newhall Ranch Project in Chapter II "How Eden lost its Garden".
A limited number of signed copies of this exciting book are available at :
One for the Books
23418 W. Lyons Ave.
Newhall
by Keith Pritsker
Keith is the elected president of the Stevenson Ranch Town Council and an attorney for the City of Los Angeles.
Last Fall Henrik Isben’s play "An Enemy of the People" had a popular run downtown at the Ahmansen Theater. Although it was written over a century ago its theme is the individual’s role in the social order and the nature of truth in this relationship is as perennial as the grasses in under our local Valley Oaks.
Dr. Thomas Stockman, the play’s protagonist, is the chief medical doctor of new mineral baths in a small Norwegian town. His brother is the mayor, and the baths are the font of a bubbling tourist economy.
When he discovers that the baths water supply is being dangerously polluted by an upstream water supply tannery, he assumes that he will be rewarded for bringing such information to his fellow townspeople in a timely manner. But we soon learn that to correct the situation will require the running of new pipelines to the baths. Such work will take two years and will cost over 100,00 krona.
Naturally, the community decides that it would rather brand the good doctor a liar than pay the piper, if I may borrow a phrase from an old German story with a remarkably similar theme.
Today we have so-called whistleblower laws that will supposedly protect a corporate employee from retaliation if the public is informed of a business’ antisocial conduct. Unfortunately, such American laws won’t help the Swiss banker who went public with his information on how his country’s banks had defrauded thousands of holocaust victims from insurance proceeds after WW II. Nor will it help any Santa Clarita resident who stands up for the welfare of children in our community. For just as Dr. Stockman sees the town’s newspaper and its so-called "solid Majority" turn against him when pocketbook principles take hold, so too have we seen educators and the local press join a conspiracy of self-interest that assumes the the perpetuation of insufficient school facilities in our growing "family oriented" valley.
Within the past year we have seen entire school boards vigorously denounced in the local press because they chose to speak up in support of the reasonable needs of our schools.
Meanwhile, one well-respected local educator refused to allow parents to communicate to one another about such matters through his institution for fear of retaliation by large moneyed interests.
Despite these setbacks, our schools have negotiated relatively favorable agreements with local developers [ed. note, this is in great part due to SCOPE’s success in the Westridge litigation that forced the County to require full funding for impacts of new development to schools and libraries. Stevenson Ranch residents for Responsible Development and the sierra Club were also parties to this successful legal challenge that brought millions of dollars to our local school districts] when compared to the plan for funding under Prop 1A approved by voters last November. This measure approved over $9 billion for school facilities construction and improvements while setting a cap on developer fees of under $2 per square foot for residential construction.
Local school officials say that the true need for appropriation fees is nearly THREE TIMES this amount. The difference can be made up from local bond measures if you can get the local electorate to approve them. This plan protects the building industry by subsidizing an essential component of any new housing community - schools.
With the passage of Prop 1A, the expansion of exclusive institutions for primary and secondary education where the few will be provided for but the vast majority will be left even further behind.
Furthermore, the subsidy of new developments makes it even harder for existing neighborhoods to maintain their quality of life; hence the urban core deteriorates even more rapidly.
Mark Twain once wrote: "When you find yourself on the side of the majority, its time to reform."
The one essential element needed to pull ourselves together to pull ourselves out of our problems, whether social or individual, is principled conduct. Henry David Thoreau, in his essay "On the Duty of Civil Disobedience" posed the following question "Why does [government] not cherish its wise majority? Why does it cry and resist before it is hurt? Why does it not encourage its citizens to be on the alert to point out its faults, and do better than it would of them? Why does it always crucify Christ and excommunicate Copernicus and Luther and pronounce Washington and Franklin rebels?"
Until personal conduct based on principle becomes the rule rather than the exception, we shall continue to brand humanity’s true benefactors as THE ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE
Santa Clarita is a donut city. Newhall to the southwest, Valencia to the north, Saugus to the northeast, Canyon Country to the east, and the clogged 14 freeway to the south.
In the middle we have an open hole with the closed Saugus Speedway (still open for swap meets on weekends), the Metrolink station, and the Bermite property, known as the Porta Bella project.
As Gertrude Stein said, "There’s no There there". But there could be.
For decades the Bermite company produced munitions in an obscure and unpopulated corner of Los Angeles County loosely known as Saugus. Bermite star flares lighted the night battlefields in Guadalcanal, as they did on the first night of the longest day in Normandy.
Over the years Bermite tested new weapons for our nation’s defense, and there is more than one fighter jock who flew over Vietnam and came home only because Bermite’s flares diverted the surface-to-air missiles. Bermite products probably saved thousands in times of war.
Times change, and we have learned much more about the dangers of chemicals when not handled correctly. How do we beat the sword to a plowshare? How do we recover this land?
Given the existing page and with Bermite being a blank piece in the middle, nearly any urban planner would say "Here is where the center of your city should be." That’s why the Metrolink station is already there, why the City intends to build a civic center there, and why the City approved Porta Bella as a core development in the city.
The challenge is to remove the products of war from the Bermite site. Various portions of the site have war-related material like depleted uranium, red phosphorous, and perchlorate. These are all excellent materials for our nation’s defense, but aren’t compatible with homes, retail stores, and the rest of modern Santa Clarita.
It’s recently been announced that Remediation Financial Inc. has bought the Porta Bella site and will undertake the removal of residual war products from the area. The cleanup of war products from this site is important for any development on the site, but also to protect our water supplies. As with Lockheed, Edwards AFB, and other defense sites, considerations for environmental protection have lagged behind the main production and mission.
Is the problem a challenge? Yes, without a doubt.
Is the problem insurmountable? We think not. Ignoring or abandoning Porta Bella will not cure anything, and can actually make things worse. A well-planned and effective remediation on this site can make it the most attractive and logical real estate for the core development in the City.
The City will hold its 10th annual Arbor Day event from 10-2 PM at Santa Clarita Park. As usual, there will be free trees, information booths, a band and fun events for the kids. Come visit the SCOPE booth for information on oak trees and the Santa Clarita Valley’s significant ecological areas. We’re looking forward to meeting you!
A clean and healthy environment is a major factor in assuring a high quality of life. Do you know someone that has contributed to preserving our local environment and quality of life?
Other aspects of out community are important to our quality of life also. Good planning requires adequate schools, libraries, and other services that are all part of what makes our community a great place to live. Access to alternative means of transportation such as trails and bikeways, good recreational areas and programs, and great community involvement also play an important part in the reasons why we like to live in Santa Clarita.
Do you know someone who has heloed preserve okks, led hikes in nature areas, worked on bike trails, participated in planning issues, taught recycling or helped keep our community's great quality of life in some other way? Please let us know before our April meeting, so that we may consider them for out Earth Day award.
Past Awardees: Henry Schultz, Tom Haile, Santa Clarita Historical Society
Nominees must be residents of the Santa Clarita Valley. Send nominations with a short paragraph about what your nominee has done for our environment and why he or she should be selected to:
SCOPE
P.O. Box 1182
Canyon Country, CA 91386
Deadline: April 10th
City, NCWD are Others in Contention
Retail Ability is Issue
The Castaic Lake Water Agency has announced its intention to acquire the Santa Clarita Water Company (SCWC) The reason for this acquisition is unclear.
CLWA has stated that it is "following the policy recommendations of (a CLWA-appointed) Water Issues Committee.. ..to consider the purchase of the SCWC." This is according to CLWA General Manager Robert Sagehorn, yet the Water Issues Committee (WIC) never recommended that CLWA acquire the SCWC.
Instead, the WIC merely stated that an enforceable water management plan should be established, and that they endorse CLWA taking a lead role in establishing and managing this plan.
The Castaic Lake Water Agency is defined as a State Agency under Appendices to the Water Code. CLWA enabling legislation prohibits it from being a water retailer. By the proposed action, the Water Agency is attempting to, by loophole and subterfuge, evade their fundamental restriction to only sell water at a wholesale level.
Our View:
1. The Proposed Action of Castaic Lake Water Agency to Acquire the
SCWC is Outside the Recommendations of the Water Issues Committee.
The WIC endorsed a water plan that is coordinated among all water companies,
with CLWA taking a lead role. This does not translate into CLWA acquisition
and control of one or more water retailers to effect this.
2. Castaic Lake Water Agency still lacks Retail Water Authority
Lacking this retail authority, the Water Agency proposes a "dummy
corporation", subject to the Public Utilities Commission, that would
be a captive customer of CLWA supplies.
SCOPE and others think the Public Utilities Commission will take a negative view of this arrangement.
3. There is still no Integrated Water Planning
The action proposed does nothing to solve water planning throughout
the SCV, and even aggravates such planning. The proposed action is to "control"
water, not to "resolve" water.
Section 29.5 of the CLWA Act required a resolution of water rights over four years ago, and CLWA never did this. If they acquire a retailer, guess where water rights will go.
The CLWA Act requires the Agency to participate, on a level basis with others, for groundwater management.
With this action, guess where groundwater will be directed.
SCV Woodlands Sampler
Sun. Jan 31st and Feb. 21st 9AM Leader Henry Schultz (296-3748) Moderate
6 mi 1200’ gain to waterfalls, oil seeps and more. Meet at entrance to
Towsley Cyn Park- I-5 Exit Calgrove, W. to Old Rd. L. to Pk. entrance Bring
Water, lunch, serious rain cancels.
Mission Peak Moonlight Conditioning Hike
March 3 7PM Moderate pace 5 mile 1200’ gain/loss to view city lights.
Take 405 Fwy to 118 W to Balboa N about 2 miles to Sesnon, W about 1 mile
to Neon Way Rt. to End of street. Bring water.
Bouquet Cyn to Spunky Cyn along PCT
Sun Mar 7, 9AM Ken Kerner (252-5156) 1500’ gain out/back to head of Spunky
Cyn. Gorgeous views. Meet at College of the Canyons west end pkg. lot.
Exit I-5 At Valencia Bl. go east and take first rt,turn to pkg. lot. Carpool
to trailhead. Need Adv.Pass, water, lunch. Rain cancels.