ADVISORY GROUP DELAYED MANAGED-GROWTH COMMITTEE PLAN SENT BACK.

Byline: Angela M. Lemire Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - Mayor Jo Anne Darcy's proposed Advisory Committee on Managed Growth has been routed back to the drawing board for Darcy and city staff to better define its mission, function and composition.

Further planning likely will postpone official appointments to the advisory committee and its first meeting, from March until May, Darcy said. Details requiring clarification include the board's size, final list of appointees, its scope and voting authority.

Questions also linger about whether the new board would remain a mayoral advisory committee - as Darcy has proposed - or fall under Santa Clarita City Council control, subject to public-meetings laws and all council members' nominations.

Darcy herself has argued the committee concept has strayed beyond her initial vision.

City officials have recommended using the committee to create ``guiding principles'' in developing a joint city-county general plan, but Darcy wants an informal board to brainstorm foreseen problems regarding growth issues, form task forces to suggest solutions and serve as her personal adviser.

In January she announced a ``three-pronged'' plan to tackle residential growth issues, including a managed growth advisory committee, formation of a joint city-county general plan and expansion of the city's legal sphere of influence to have greater input in growth outside its boundaries.

``The advisory committee was to work in concert with the other two, but I wanted them separate,'' Darcy said. ``It's too big to be all in one. ... This is not what I planned.''

Since staff prematurely released Darcy's proposed appointees two weeks ago without her approval, environmentalists, slow-growth City Council members and area town councils have criticized her selections for lacking enough representation for their interests.

Councilwoman Jan Heidt also objected that proposed appointees lacked young couples. The community needs that representation, she said at a recent council meeting, because many young families who have relocated to the area will become its future leaders.

And some outspoken critics have welcomed all the confusion over the mayor's advisory committee for stalling its momentum.

``It was a lucky break for us,'' said longtime Santa Clarita resident Skip Newhall, an environmentalist and longtime supporter for Councilwoman Jill Klajic. ``This is everyone's business, so it should be out in the open.''

Like other slow-growth advocates, including members of Santa Clarita Organization for Planning the Environment (SCOPE) and Councilwoman Klajic, Newhall wants the committee governed by open-meetings laws, appointed by all council members and expanded to balance business and development interests with environmental interests - especially if it oversees a joint city-county general plan.

``I'm basically discouraged so far by the process,'' said Lynne Plambeck, vice president of SCOPE. ``(A managed growth committee) should have been an appointed body of the whole council.''

Although Darcy's list of appointees includes three reputed environmentalists and slow-growth advocates, critics argue that developers, development supporters and those with business interests would outnumber them in other committee seats.

Stevenson Ranch Town Council President Keith Pritsker uses a similar argument in seeking his council's official representation on the Managed Growth committee. Proposed appointees from Stevenson Ranch so far include resident Jeff Stevenson, a homeowners association member as well as consultant for Lennar Communities, the developer of Stevenson Ranch.

Pritsker argues town councils from Agua Dulce, Castaic and Stevenson Ranch should be included, because they are elected by residents and their communities are ``directly and dramatically'' affected by growth throughout Santa Clarita Valley.

As a result of similar requests from the area town councils, those communities likely would be added to either the Managed Growth committee or special task forces, Darcy said.

``I can see where they're coming from, now that I've spoken to them,'' Darcy said. ``I didn't think of them before because I was trying to keep it small, as just a mayor's advisory committee. I had no idea it would get to be this big.''

In answer to other criticisms, Darcy and city staff members have maintained the committee could accept another 5 to 6 members, and more people would be sought for special task forces to address issues like water supply, open space and wildlife preservation.

Given the early challenges, the managed growth committee - regardless of the form it takes - has been set up for a delicate balancing act.

And if Darcy gets her wish, her nominee for committee chairman, John Hoskinson, will have his work cut out for him.

Hoskinson, a Santa Clarita resident since 1983 who helped develop the first city general plan, formerly served on the College of the Canyons' foundation board and is president of Gruber Systems Inc., a manufacturer of marble and kitchen products.

City spokeswoman Gail Ortiz has credited him with having ``excellent problem solving skills.''

Hoskinson said Friday he would have the committee begin work from a ``common ground starting point,'' that is, study the economic makeup of the Santa Clarita Valley. Regardless of their interests, committee members need to understand what forces and facts drive their community before making important decisions and speculating on other matters, he said.

As a company president and father who has reared two children in Santa Clarita Valley, Hoskinson says he would bring to the table interests that straddle business and quality of life issues.

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Photo: Jo Anne Darcy

Committee's mission refined