CITY DENIES NEED FOR NEW EIR SPHERE EXTENSION SOUTH COULD KILL LAS LOMAS PROJECT.

Byline: Eugene Tong Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - The city could extend its sphere of influence south into the Newhall Pass without extensive environmental review, freeing Santa Clarita officials to execute a plan designed to kill the 5,800-home Las Lomas project proposed there.

The City Attorney's Office, rebutting a May 9 letter from lawyers representing Santa Monica-based developer Dan Palmer, argued that Santa Clarita's plan to bypass the review and submit the sphere application with the county Local Agency Formation Commission complies with state law.

``The environmental documentation we have provided for the sphere amendment is the correct environment documentation, and is consistent with prior action outlined by the court,'' said Michael Murphy, the city's intergovernmental relations officer. Declaring a sphere of influence allows a city some say in development on its borders.

Palmer attorney Carlyle Hall said Friday he had not reviewed the city's response and declined to comment. The City Council, which postponed action on the sphere amendment for about a month because Palmer's letter implied possible litigation, is slated to take up the issue again Tuesday.

The sphere of influence effort, made in cooperation with the city of Los Angeles, would split the 555-acre project site southeast of the junction of Interstate 5 and the Antelope Valley Freeway at the ridgeline between the two cities.

With roughly 75 percent of the land in Santa Clarita's sphere, it would be difficult for Palmer to annex his project to Los Angeles for its plentiful water. Los Angeles already submitted its sphere of influence amendment to LAFCO, moving it north to the edge of Santa Clarita's proposed sphere.

``It gives the city of Santa Clarita a greater voice in any proposed development for that area,'' Murphy said.

Hall alleges Santa Clarita's move to bypass environmental review in enacting the sphere amendment violates a Superior Court ruling from a 2004 lawsuit challenging a city plan to annex parts of the Las Lomas site.

Judge Dzintra Janavs ruled a ``negative declaration'' inadequate under state environmental law, and required a full environmental impact report in the annexation.

Hall's letter argued the ruling also applies ``in any further processing of discretionary actions seeking to gain control and authority over the Las Lomas Project area,'' including the city's sphere amendment.

But the City Attorney's Office, according to a draft rebuttal, said the ruling ``never indicated the requirement to prepare a 'full EIR' or indicate that an EIR was required for the processing of a Sphere of Influence Plan Amendment, in the absence of a pre-zoning or annexation proposal.''

``Our attorneys looked at the court ruling, and the action that the council is being asked to take for moving forward with the sphere amendment is significantly different action than was litigated,'' Murphy said.

Eugene Tong, [phone]

eugene.tong(at)dailynews.com

IF YOU GO

The Santa Clarita City Council will meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday in Council Chambers on the first floor of City Hall, 23920 Valencia Boulevard.

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