CANYON DEVELOPMENT TOO LARGE, PANEL TOLD.

Byline: Sherry Joe Crosby Daily News Staff Writer

Three thousand homes planned for ranch land in San Francisquito Canyon would create far too much traffic for such an inaccessible area, Los Angeles County planning officials said Wednesday.

County planning department staff members told the Regional Planning Commission that the Tesoro del Valle project should be scaled back in remote areas that are difficult to reach because of tough terrain and limited roads.

"Based on remoteness and limited access, we feel it's inappropriate for urban development," said John Hartman, a county supervising planner. Hartman suggested that fewer homes be built in the project's northern edge, which abuts the Angeles National Forest.

Planning officials also want to reduce development on the project's western edge, saying it would generate too much traffic for local roads.

"This would simply exacerbate the situation," said Randine Ruiz, a supervising civil engineer for the county Public Works department. "We don't see where larger roads can be developed."

Representatives of developer T.C. Collins & Associates said their project is environmentally sound and less dense than adjacent developments. To access the site, the developer proposes widening San Francisquito Canyon Road and extending Copper Hill Drive across the project's southern portion.

"The new alignment of Copper Hill Drive is not only a benefit to the property, but a benefit to Santa Clarita Valley," land-use consultant Richard Wirth said.

The Newport Beach-based developer and the Clougherty family want to build the project over 10 years on 1,800 acres in the canyon, just north of city limits on the Clougherty ranch on San Francisquito Road near Copper Hill Drive.

If approved by the planning commission, the project would feature 2,038 single-family houses and 962 multifamily units, a five-acre commercial parcel, two elementary school sites and a fire station.

Because of Santa Clarita's growth policies and its restrictive hillside ordinance that limits developments on slopes, developers anticipate high demand for their project, which is outside city limits.

"We think there's going to be a definite market and need for our project," said Dale K. Neal, the developers' attorney. "We don't have a high density. We have a broad range of multifamily and single-family units."

Santa Clarita and nearby residents are fighting the plan, saying it's too dense and ill-suited to rural San Francisquito Canyon.

Local school officials, worried about additional students, are demanding more compensation from the developers to build new campuses.

If approved, the project would add 1,513 students to the William S. Hart Union High School District and Saugus Union School District, said the schools' attorney Arto Nuutinen.

Under the valleywide schools-developer agreement, Hart district would receive $5.6 million and Saugus $4.6 million. To accommodate the additional students, the schools want $11.5 million more for Hart and $8.8 million more for Saugus.

The developers are negotiating with schools to reach a new agreement but said they hope voters will approve a $3 billion state bond measure on the March ballot.

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Map Proposed Tesoro del Valle development