COUNCIL SUPPORTS PROPOSAL FOR PROJECT PLAN HAS OFFICE PARK, MOTOCROSS INCLUDED.

Byline: Eugene Tong Staff Writer

CASTAIC - The Castaic Town Council has approved in concept a motocross track/business park on 227 acres in a canyon between the north- and southbound lanes of Interstate 5, pending environmental and county review.

The local advisory council, in an 8-1 decision Wednesday, granted developer Neil Nadler its blessing to further pursue the project with the county Department of Regional Planning. He has not filed an application there yet. But the approval came on the condition that he returns to the panel for input as county review progresses and changes are made.

``It's another step along the way,'' Nadler said after the vote.

Nadler has proposed a business park with 130,000 square feet of floor space set on 19 acres off Castaic Road; 55 acres of open space, parts of which is being offered as a recreation site for the Santa Clarita Valley Family YMCA, which is considering space at the business complex; and a four-track motocross park dubbed Castaic Action Sports Canyon, set on 153 acres near Ridge Route Road.

It's all tucked in Maple Canyon, north of Castaic, where I-5's north- and southbound lanes split off.

Opponents, including many residents from a subdivision west of the freeway overlooking the canyon, fear that the motocross and business parks will increase noise and traffic, especially near Lake Hughes Road - I-5's last exit in Castaic. Some have organized into an opposition group called Keep Castaic Safe.

Town Council member Joanne Carras was absent when the vote was taken, and council member Phil Hof dissented. Hof argued that each component in a project with such diverse uses should be considered separately, or at least scrutinized as a specific plan, which requires more detailed analysis of environmental and community impacts than Nadler has presented.

``There is a lot that needs to be specified that I don't see here,'' Hof said. ``I just envision our Town Council is going to be the Castaic Action Sports Complex review committee. ... I think this is the wrong way to do it. (Something this complex) should be done in a specific plan.''

Opponent Jim D'Addario, who has advised the council on zoning issues as a member of its land use committee, agreed.

``I don't think I've ever seen a project come to the Town Council so disjointed,'' he said.

But other board members were comfortable signing off on the project given the future review provisions.

``It has come a long way from when it started,'' council member Bart Davidson said. ``My personal opinion is to go ahead and approve on condition that all of that has to come back to the Town Council and the community with all the appropriate (review documents.)''

Nadler, who was joined by more than 40 supporters clad in green T-shirts touting the complex, said the park would be a community asset, while the business park would generate jobs for the community.

``Castaic needs places where people can ride dirt bikes,'' he said. ``Castaic needs jobs. Castaic needs this project.''

Still, the project still requires an environmental impact analysis, as well as water usage and traffic studies required by county planners. Opponent Betsy Schubert, who lives in the nearby subdivision, urged the Town Council to withhold approval ``until those tests are concluded.''

``It has been kind of handed in in chunks,'' she said. ``Nobody really knows what we're getting.''

Town Council member Bob Lewis unleashed a list of concerns, including the motocross park's proposal to stay open as late as 10 p.m., and to hold special events that could draw thousands. He cited Castaic Lake, which brings crowds and traffic to the community in the summer.

``I think the idea of the motocross track benefiting the community of Castaic is a good thing,'' he said. ``But (with special events,) I'm concerned about that. We have a lake that does in the summertime affect the community. But one thing you do know is, once the sun goes down, (the impact from the lake) goes away.''

Now, motocross riders typically head into the Angeles National Forest, riding on property owned by the Bureau of Land Management, or to the state's 19,000-acre Hungry Valley off-highway vehicle recreation area south of Gorman.

Cameron Robinson, a Santa Clarita resident and a motocross-park supporter, said the proposed facility could benefit the community, much as Castaic Lake has.

``The whole town flourishes because of that lake,'' he said. ``You never have to leave the house (to ride.) It's perfect.''

Eugene Tong, [phone]

eugene.tong(at)dailynews.com