COUNCIL MUM ON HOUSING PROJECT MAYOR CITES BUILDER'S COOPERATIVE RELATIONSHIP WITH CITY.

Byline: Naush Boghossian Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA- The city of Santa Clarita, battling a 5,500-home project planned south of the city limits and a mining operation to the north, has never taken a stand on the massive 21,600-home Newhall Ranch.

In fact, the Santa Clarita City Council was inclined to support Newhall Ranch if certain conditions were met.

About five years ago the council decided to oppose Newhall Ranch unless it was modified, said Vince Bertoni, planning manager for the city.

The city worked with Newhall Land on a list of about 12 issues including trails, public services and traffic, concerns the developer addressed and resolved, and the council never revisited the project or took a formal position.

In fact, the current council has never even considered Newhall Ranch, which would be built out over 20 years and be home to about 60,000 people.

``Any project that size would have impacts, and we've commented on that, and to what degree and whether those impacts have been modified,'' Bertoni said. ``The City Council said these are the important issues, and we worked through most of them and that's where it left off.''

But the city has battled other projects with traffic and environmental impacts similar to Newhall Ranch. Santa Clarita hopes to annex land in the Newhall Pass where developer Dan S. Palmer Jr. plans a 5,500-home project called Las Lomas. Palmer wants to annex to Los Angeles, but the city has filed a competing annexation proposal with hopes of killing the development.

Santa Clarita has sued to block another project, the proposed Cemex sand and gravel mine planned northeast of the city.

Mayor Cameron Smyth said there's no comparison between Newhall Ranch and the two projects the council is fighting. Santa Clarita and The Newhall Land and Farming Company have a cooperative relationship, as evidenced by the Newhall Ranch negotiations.

``We do recognize this project will have significant impacts on the city with the additional traffic concerns and just the additional population,'' Smyth said.

``We have had a good working relationship in the past with Newhall Land, which is a local company and is headquartered here. And they've heard the city's concerns and in a lot of instances have acquiesced to a lot of issues brought forth by the city.''

By contrast, Palmer has not shown a willingness to work with the city on resolving their issues, so Santa Clarita believes it is best equipped to govern the area.

``There's no interest or willingness to work with the city and listen to the city,'' Smyth said. ``Their desire to annex to the city of Los Angeles is purely an attempt to avoid working with the city (of Santa Clarita.) With Newhall Land, we have a better chance to get a seat on the table.''

City officials explained that they don't always take a stand on proposed projects, sometimes limiting their participation to expressing concerns and working toward resolutions.

``We'll work with developers all the time and they're not necessarily asking the city to give a resolution endorsing the project,'' Bertoni said.

Newhall Land spokeswoman Marlee Lauffer agreed that over the years, the city has cultivated a relationship of cooperation with the developer that created the community of Valencia.

``Santa Clarita is the nearest neighborhood to Newhall Ranch and they have a long track record working with us for last 30-plus years,'' Lauffer said.

Still the City Council doesn't plan on sitting by as the different phases of Newhall Ranch come up for approval.

``I think we'll look very closely at each phase as it goes through,'' Smyth said. ``We want to take that route first because of our past relationship and success in working together.''

And Newhall Land expects the city will make its opinion known when each phase comes up for review.

``I'm sure they'll have comments,'' Lauffer said, laughing. ``If we can, we'll do our best to accommodate the comments they have.''

But, environmentalists question why the city would fight projects that offer the same arguments about traffic and environmental impacts that Newhall Ranch will certainly have, but won't fight the massive Newhall Ranch itself.

``If they're for it, why aren't they supporting it? And if they're against it, why aren't they opposing it?'' said Tom Barrons, a community activist. The implications of Newhall Ranch are as large, if not larger than projects such as the mine that the city has spent millions of dollars fighting, he added.

``The fact that they're not willing to take a position is an example of this region being so pliable to the will of the remote county government,'' Barrons said.

When Santa Clarita chooses not to get involved, that forces environmental groups to take the lead in trying to protect the area's natural resources, said Barbara Wampole, vice chairwoman of the Friends of the Santa Clara River.

``From our perspective, the way the city works with Newhall Land, we have to take the lead with protecting the community,'' Wampole said. ``We end up having to go to court.''

Local environmentalists feel that the spirit of good will between the city and Newhall Land extends beyond being open to working with each other.

During council elections, Newhall Land allows only a select few candidates to place signs on the company's high profile properties, while others more critical of development are prohibited, Wampole said.

``That's how they support these candidates,'' she said. ``The reason why they're content with their relationship is they obviously support each other in who's in office and what projects are approved.''