CITIES' SPHERES WOULD SPLIT LAS LOMAS PROJECT IN TWO.

Byline: Kerry Cavanaugh Staff Writer

In a move that could doom the 5,800-home Las Lomas project as currently proposed for the Newhall Pass, the Santa Clarita City Council is expected Tuesday to endorse a plan that would essentially split the project land between Santa Clarita and Los Angeles.

Both cities are considering filing applications to extend their spheres of influence to the ridgeline. Land to the north would be in Santa Clarita's sphere, giving the city more authority to review and comment on projects. Land to the south of the ridgeline would be in L.A.'s sphere.

The ridgeline bisects the 555 acres between the Golden State and Antelope Valley freeways where developer Dan Palmer has proposed building homes, offices and shopping centers.

With roughly 75 percent of his land in Santa Clarita's sphere, Palmer would have a hard time annexing his project to the city of Los Angeles for its plentiful water, as he has planned to do.

``The city of Los Angeles is sending a very strong message that they don't envision their city going any farther north than that ridgeline,'' said Michael Murphy, Santa Clarita intergovernmental relations officer.

Los Angeles City Council members representing the north San Fernando Valley said they oppose Las Lomas. Palmer could still try to develop his project in the unincorporated county or annex to the city of Santa Clarita; however, city and county leaders have expressed concerns about the size and density.

Palmer said in a statement that he was disappointed the cities would act now on the spheres of influence, without considering the benefits of Las Lomas to the region.

``Taking this step now would serve to reduce Los Angeles' future decision-making power regarding this property, particularly since we have not yet had an opportunity to finalize our environmental impact report and proposed traffic mitigations.''

Even without Las Lomas, Santa Clarita would have eventually applied to expand its sphere of influence, which would stretch from the city border to the ridgeline near Weldon Canyon Road.

``If anything, the Las Lomas proposal heightened the issue in the sense that the council feels very strongly that any development proposed for that area, the city of Santa Clarita should have some role in that process,'' Murphy said.

At its Tuesday meeting the City Council is expected to vote to endorse Los Angeles' application to the Local Agency Formation Commission to extend its sphere of influence to the ridgeline.

Santa Clarita is expected to come back May 10 to consider submitting its own application to LAFCO to extend its sphere of influence to the ridgeline and meet L.A.'s proposed sphere.

Los Angeles has proposed extending its sphere of influence to include about 30 square miles of unincorporated county land north of the San Fernando Valley, from Chatsworth to Lake View Terrace.

Kerry Cavanaugh, [phone]

kerry.cavanaugh(at)dailynews.com