GREEN VALLEY PROJECT OK'D PANEL SENDS 254-HOME TRACT TO COUNCIL TO CONSIDER.

Byline: Eugene Tong Staff Writer

VAL VERDE - The Castaic Town Council's land-use committee has passed the Green Valley Ranch project for consideration by the full council as the 254-home development takes another baby step through the years-long county review process.

The subdivision proposed by Park City, Utah-based Sterling Gateway is slated to be built on 109 acres north and east of this rural community of 1,500 in the canyons north of Santa Clarita and west of Interstate 5.

The committee appointed to review local projects earlier this week voted 4-0 to recommend that the Town Council approve the development with a list of seven conditions. One member was absent. The next hearing date has not been set.

``It's a vote of confidence that they encourage us to go forward,'' developer Hunt Williams said. ``We have a lot to work out on the project (environmental review) and we are encouraged to continue to seek input to make this project better than what we're producing now.''

Still, opponents - including members of the Val Verde Civic Association - insist the project is too big and would cut down the community's surrounding ridges. They prefer a smaller development of 50 to 125 homes. Current zoning regulations allow 217 houses on the property.

Association President James Stephens said the committee's decision fails to address concerns of his community.

``Explain to me how rubber-stamping the Hunt project in the face of overwhelming community opposition is even the slightest bit representative,'' he wrote in an e-mail to Town Council members. ``I am through bothering with the Town Council.''

Williams said he has consulted with the civic association in the past.

Town Council member Lloyd Carder said the developer easily could have bypassed the group, which advises county Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich on Castaic and Val Verde issues but has no legislative powers. He could take the project directly to the county Department of Regional Planning.

``We have to hear it,'' he said. ``That doesn't mean we will approve or disapprove it. If we don't hear it, we might lose our chance. He may go directly to planning. ... The Town Council gives us a forum to talk about things ad nauseam.''

The land-use committee voted to impose a ban on ``flag'' lots - homes built behind other homes accessible only along a long driveway; require a buffer between residences and the proposed 18,000-square-foot commercial center; call for acceleration and deceleration lanes for prime routes such as Del Valle Road; require school board approval; and make restrictions to preserve current lighting levels.

``Everything we've conditioned will go to preserve the community's rural character,'' said Charles Anderson, a committee member.

Williams said his plan conforms with local building standards adopted in 2004 by the Town Council. Concessions include larger lot sizes; they now range from the minimum 7,000 square feet to 4.5 acres, with an average size of 16,700 square feet.

The proposed town houses clustered around courtyards were replaced with single-family homes. The plan also includes a park, an 18,000-square-foot commercial center and some 128 acres of open space.

Still, Williams said he would consider changes.

``There's nothing in the (community standards district) or county zoning ordinances that forbids flag lots,'' he said. ``It's an aesthetic issue. We're going to study that. We want to make sure those lots are good lots, and they don't negatively impact the design or the project.''

Williams' grandfather, oil prospector Theodore Sterling, acquired the property in 1949. A few oil rigs still dot the property - relics from a time before the region became one of Los Angeles County's fastest-growing corners. According to county projections, the Santa Clarita Valley's population could swell from 249,000 in 2005 to more than 428,000 in 2030.

Eugene Tong, [phone]

eugene.tong(at)dailynews.com