DEAL SET FOR ROAD EASEMENT CITY PLANS ADVANCE.Byline: Angela M. Lemire Staff Writer 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 city has avoided at least one costly condemnation battle over land needed for Golden Valley Road through a settlement that enables the owner to develop a small business park. The City Council last week granted the owner, Hi-Shear Technology Corp. of Delaware, the same hillside grading exemptions and business park zoning designation as an adjacent 200-acre property, the future Santa Clarita Business Park. The two properties are along the northwestern segment of Golden Valley Road's planned route. In return, the city will receive the right-of-way easement easement, in law, the right to use the land of another for a specified purpose, as distinguished from the right to possess that land. If the easement benefits the holder personally and is not associated with any land he owns, it is an easement in gross (e.g. it has sought through Hi-Shear's 16-acre property, on which two small industrial buildings stand, city engineer Robert Newman Robert Newman can refer to:
Hi-Shear, or any subsequent owner of the parcel, still would have to obtain permits and undergo hearings for development on the property. The nonbinding deal points are outlined in a memorandum of understanding A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is a legal document describing a bilateral or multilateral agreement between parties. It expresses a convergence of will between the parties, indicating an intended common line of action and may not imply a legal commitment. that sets up negotiations for an official 15-year development agreement, said Newman, who expects a draft agreement to be completed by April. Negotiations continue to determine if the company would donate the land for the easement or require the city to buy it, Newman said. The right-of-way last June was appraised at $247,025. In all, the city has condemned 18 parcels to complete the $22 million, two-mile, north-south Golden Valley Road extension from Saugus to Sierra Highway Sierra Highway is a road in Southern California, United States. It runs from Tunnel Station near the north limit of the City of Los Angeles, where it intersects with San Fernando Road and Foothill Boulevard, as well as Interstate 5, and continues north to Mojave, mostly paralleling . The city took possession of the lands by eminent domain eminent domain, the right of a government to force the owner of private property sell it if it is needed for a public use. The right is based on the doctrine that a sovereign state has dominion over all lands and buildings within its borders, which has its origins in in December, but has until September to negotiate settlements with individual land owners. Before the Hi-Shear settlement, six property owners last summer avoided the condemnation proceeding by accepting city buyouts, according to city officials. Unsettled cases will be decided by a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge at a trial in September. A settlement conference is scheduled for Aug. 29. City officials don't foresee the Hi-Shear settlement to set precedent with other outstanding condemnations cases, Newman said. ``This worked out with Hi-Shear because they still had a large redevelopable portion of their property left after the take,'' Newman said. Both the city and land owner stand to reap other financial benefits from the deal. Hi-Shear would defer payment of bridge and thoroughfare fees to the city until receiving building permits for any on-site development, plus receive exemptions from the city ridgeline ridge·line n. See ridge. Noun 1. ridgeline - a long narrow range of hills ridge arete - a sharp narrow ridge found in rugged mountains preservation ordinance. The exemption gives property owners greater flexibility to develop hilly parcels. The city would receive more tax revenues as a result of the property's zoning change to business park, plus avoid expensive and lengthy litigation An action brought in court to enforce a particular right. The act or process of bringing a lawsuit in and of itself; a judicial contest; any dispute. When a person begins a civil lawsuit, the person enters into a process called litigation. to take Hi-Shear's land by eminent domain, city engineers said. |
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