APPROVAL PROCESS FOR COMPLEX UNDER WAY; SPECIFIC DESIGN PLAN REVIEW SET FOR TONIGHT.

Byline: Angela M. Lemire Staff Writer

With environmental impact hearings behind them, city planners tonight begin to iron out construction regulations for a proposed 1,900-home development in North Valencia, with a special focus on the preservation of San Francisquito Creek.

The Planning Commission has scheduled a special meeting at 6:30 p.m. in Council Chambers at City Hall, 23920 Valencia Blvd., to review the specific design plan for The Newhall Land and Farming Company's North Valencia 2 - a proposed mixed-use development projected to accommodate about 5,719 residents and create 564 retail jobs in the area.

Tonight's meeting will serve as a benchmark in the project's approval process, said city planner Jeff Lambert. City staffers will present their recommendations for development regulations to be woven into Newhall Land's specific plan, based in part on residents' input received during 11 meetings in recent months.

Newhall Land's proposal to develop a nearly 600-acre parcel in the unincorporated territory between Copper Hill Drive, San Francisquito Creek and Newhall Ranch Road is under review by the Planning Commission before seeking the City Council's final approval of the master plan in late July, officials said. Also, the developer is seeking approval for the land's annexation to the city.

The project, which would include 210,000 square feet of retail space, also will require additional review at the state and county levels. The Local Agency Formation Commission will consider annexing it to the city of Santa Clarita, and the state will review the final site for Rio Norte, a junior high school proposed on 20 acres on the northwest corner of McBean Parkway and Decoro Drive.

Hearings on the project in recent months have showcased some residents' concerns for preservation of San Francisquito Creek, which snakes along a two-mile route from Newhall Ranch Road to Copper Hill Drive, Lambert said.

Planners therefore are recommending that the creek be established as a ``major centralized open space corridor,'' according to the first draft of the specific plan released on Friday.

Planners also are pushing for activity around the creek to be limited to ``passive recreation,'' for the creation of buffer zones to protect the habitat, and for developers to be under order to replant the creek and preserved floodplain if they disturb the area, according to the report.

``The (environmental impact report) made its determination that there would be no impact with these suggested mitigations,'' Lambert said.

Planners, for example, are calling for a minimum 100-foot setback from the ``resource line,'' where plant and animal habitats along the creek have been identified, he said.

During their presentation tonight, planners and developers will propose measures to be rolled into the project that would replenish and protect groundwater, address affordable housing issues, and other design standards, such as setbacks and parking, officials said.

Besides the proposed 100-foot buffer zone adjacent to the creek habitat, city planning officials are working with Newhall Land to design roads with reduced street paving, increased parkway widths and provide public parks and private recreation areas.

Reducing standard street widths from 40 to 32 feet and designing the residential streets with landscaped parkways would allow more open area for groundwater recharge while enhancing the visual character of the neighborhood, planners said.

Analysts working on the project say that of the total project site, about 214.1 acres, or 55 percent, would be set aside as open space to recharge the groundwater.

The Planning Commission expects to wrap up its review after three or four more hearings, then present its final recommendations to the City Council for its approval by the end of July, Lambert said. Although the public comment period for the the North Valencia 2 annexation project was extended twice and has closed, city officials will continue to accept input from residents, he added.