BUILDING PLANS FLOOD OFFICE; DEVELOPERS RUSH TO BEAT FEE INCREASE DEADLINE.

Byline: Jason Takenouchi Staff Writer

The Santa Clarita Valley, already one of the fastest-growing areas in the county, is poised to go into overdrive.

Builders flooded the area's water agency with plans for hundreds of homes and businesses this past week. Developers have to file the plans, and pay corresponding fees, to connect with the valley's water system.

While officials with the Castaic Lake Water Agency have not determined the number of new buildings contained in the plans submitted, the sheer volume underscores the rapid development in this north Los Angeles County area.

In all, the agency collected more than $31 million in connection fees this fiscal year, which ended Wednesday, breaking the previous record by nearly $20 million. Officials say they collected $11 million of those fees Wednesday, nearly the same amount collected in the entire previous fiscal year.

``We were shocked,'' said Donald Froelich, vice president of the water agency's board. ``We knew a lot would come in, but we were surprised by the extent of it.''

The last-minute rush came in large part because June 30 was the last day to submit plans under an old fee structure. The agency's rate for the new fiscal year is about 60 percent higher.

But an expanding housing market also played a role in this year's record numbers, builders say.

``I think you would have seen an increase from last year anyway, just because of the growth and the increase in housing,'' said Steven Penn, project manager for Pacific Bay Homes LLC.

``I think the whole valley out here has hit a critical mass,'' he said. ``The supply is still real tight.''

The Santa Clarita Valley already is in the midst of a solid expansion. According to the Construction Industry Research Board, an industry-supported research group headquartered in Burbank, 826 single-family homes received building permits in the first five months of 1999, a 58 percent increase over the same period last year.

But builders who avoided the Castaic agency's fee increase by prepaying will face another deadline on Dec. 31. If they do not pull building permits from either city or county planners by then, their projects will be subject to the new, higher fee schedule.

``Builders paid a certain amount of money, now they're going to try to see if they can make those projects happen,'' said Ray Pearl, deputy director of government affairs for the Building Industry Association in the Los Angeles and Ventura county areas.

Some developers may speed up their projects to avoid the higher fees, Pearl said. But he said the flood of plans and fees does not necessarily indicate another growth spurt in the area.

``You're seeing a steady rate of growth,'' Pearl said. ``The reason for the new flood of money is, simply put, trying to beat the deadlines.''

And actual building construction only accounts for a portion of the fees collected by the Castaic Lake Water Agency. Because the fees are tied to water demand, open spaces or golf courses make up large chunks of the total collected.

Marlee Lauffer, spokeswoman for The Newhall Land and Farming Company, the area's dominant developer, said much of the company's $4 million in fees was tied to open space and a golf course at its Westridge Golf Course Community.

Newhall Land did not pay fees for the development's homes because those plans are still being worked out, Lauffer said.

But building still accounts for much of the influx of plans and fees to the area's water agency, and Froelich, the vice president of the water agency's board, said this year's record numbers are indicative of a continued building boom in the area.

``There's a lot of building going on in this valley,'' he said. ``You're going to see continued, rapid, significant growth in the community.''