248-HOME PLAN RUNS INTO MIRE OF ISSUES.

Byline: Amy Collins Daily News Staff Writer

Few people thought the Decoro Highlands residential project would face so many questions.

Although it is a relatively small housing project, to be located northeast of Valencia High School, it is near the head of the line for a number of issues. It is among the first to need a new agreement with Hart High School District. It is the first in the county with a proposed new storm-water filtration system, and it is among the first projects examined by a new county planning commissioner, Esther Feldman.

It will face further scrutiny this morning when the Los Angeles County Regional Planning Commission reopens the public hearing on the Decoro project.

The William S. Hart Union High School District has hinted it may sue The Newhall Land and Farming Company over the 458-unit housing project if the developer does not agree to pay enough money toward schools needed for the new students who would live in Decoro.

``We are essentially back to where we were with the developer and the school district having contrary views as to appropriate mitigation,'' Charles Moore, a county counsel, said Friday.

The school district is seeking the same amount it wants from the developer of the larger Tesoro del Valle housing tract: $6,200 for each single-family unit and $2,350 per condominium unit.

Officials for the school district were unavailable for comment Friday, and a spokeswoman for Newhall Land declined to comment on the issue.

Hart's point of view, Moore said, is that it will not protest the project's approval if there is an agreement on schools before housing construction begins. But Newhall Land officials, he said, feel that would make the company's project a hostage to the school district's demands.

Moore earlier proposed a lesser payment on Decoro unless Hart and Newhall Land reach another agreement before Decoro is built that would cover all the developer's projects in the Santa Clarita Valley. He said he would revive that proposal, favored by the developer but not Hart, or an entirely new compromise.

Other developer fees, as for the county library system, have already been settled. David Flint, the assistant director of the county library system, said the developer will pay $336 per housing unit toward construction and materials for a new library.

The Valencia Company, a Newhall Land subsidiary, also is being questioned about the type and placement of storm-water filtration ponds.

At a June 9 meeting, Commissioner Feldman asked whether the ponds would be sufficient to screen pollutants from gutter drainage before the water heads toward the San Francisquito Creek.

The catch-basins would employ new technology not yet used in the county. County planner George Malone said the Regional Water Quality Control Board has studied the plans since the June 9 meeting and made generally favorable comments.

Also, the company has agreed to install a second pond for the lower one-third of the project, said company spokeswoman Marlee Lauffer.

The county planning staff has also prepared a map, at Feldman's request, showing where four parks will be developed. She sought details on recreational facilities proposed for residents of Decoro Highlands.

Commissioners also have been sent a letter from the Santa Clarita Valley Oak Conservancy, taking issue with the developer's plan to remove all oak trees at the site, including six protected under county conservation rules.

Those six would be replaced at a four-to-one ratio, Malone said. The developer would be required to plant 24 new oak trees.