CIRCLE J RESIDENTS TO SUE CITY; BRIDGE PLAN SPURS ACTION.Byline: Amy Collins Daily News Staff Writer Residents of Circle J Ranch intend to file a lawsuit this week challenging the city's plan to build a bridge over the south fork South Fork may refer to:
As many as three Valencia homeowner associations may join the suit, which will claim the city violated state environmental laws in approving the bridge, said Carl Kanowsky, an attorney and Circle J resident. The proposed bridge - which ultimately would be part of a four- to six-lane thoroughfare THOROUGHFARE. A street or way so open that one can go through and get out of it without returning. It differs from a cul de sac, (q.v.) which is open only at one end. 2. Whether a street which is not a thoroughfare is a highway, seems not fully settled. - has been the drawing card of criticism for hundreds of residents in Valencia and Circle J for a decade. Kanowsky said the city has illegally finalized See finalization. the project without seeking input from the residents who have complained about the project since the 1980s. ``It's obviously a ploy ploy n. An action calculated to frustrate an opponent or gain an advantage indirectly or deviously; a maneuver: "A typical ploy is to feign illness, procure medicine, then sell it on the black market" to try to get around the interests and concerns of the citizens,'' he said. City officials say that's not true. The bridge was approved in 1987, said Glenn Adamick, an economic development associate for the city of Santa Clarita Santa Clarita, city (1990 pop. 110,642), Los Angeles co., S Calif., suburb 30 mi (48 km) NW of downtown Los Angeles, on the Santa Clara River; inc. 1987. Situated in the Santa Clara valley and nearby canyons, Santa Clarita includes the former towns of Canyon Country, . The bridge was approved a decade ago for Watt America, developer of the Circle J community, to build a secondary access to its 600 homes. The bridge would extend from Via Princessa over the railroad tracks, San Fernando Road San Fernando Road is a major street in the city and county of Los Angeles. It starts off in Castaic as The Old Road, passing through Santa Clarita and the Newhall Pass, where upon its intersection with Sierra Highway near the junction of the Golden State (I-5) and the and the river to meet up with Wiley Canyon Road in Valencia. In the 1980s, Circle J residents were demanding that the road be built and Valencia residents were protesting the route, saying it would increase traffic and noise through their neighborhoods. Although Watt America issued $4.5 million in bonds to pay for the bridge, the City Council moved the project down its list of priorities, Adamick said. Only now is it receiving attention anew a·new adv. 1. Once more; again. 2. In a new and different way, form, or manner. [Middle English : a, of (from Old English of; see of) + new as Beazer Homes, which bought Watt, is planning to build 348 more homes in the area. Representatives for Beazer Homes did not return phone calls Monday. Adamick said the bridge has been planned since 1975, when it was listed on the county's General Plan and later on the city's 1991 General Plan as a major highway. He said residents have known all along that the bridge would be built. ``We have been very upfront with all the people in Circle J Ranch,'' he said. In addition to arguing that the city didn't keep the public informed of review of the bridge, the suit will argue that the city illegally split the bridge construction apart from the original application to build the Beazer project. Adamick said that claim is also without merit. ``It always has been two different projects,'' he said. He said construction on the bridge is set to begin next year and that it would be open to traffic in 1999. CAPTION(S): Map: Proposed bridge |
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