HOUSING MAY RISE NEAR RARE WILD RIVER NEWHALL LAND CO. PLANS 1,100 HOMES.

Byline: Heather MacDonald Staff Writer

SAUGUS - Plans are under way to build 1,110 homes and apartments on one of the last large undeveloped areas in Santa Clarita: near the banks of Southern California's only remaining natural river.

Officials of The Newhall Land and Farming Company envision Riverpark as a community focused on the Santa Clara River, which is home to scores of plants, animals and birds - some of them rare, including species threatened by extinction.

``The river will be the focal point of this sensitively designed community,'' said Newhall Land spokeswoman Marlee Lauffer.

The river is also sure to be at the center of the looming fight over the project, proposed to be built in the part of town known locally as the Panhandle.

``This is a very sensitive area of the river, not suitable for development,'' said Lynne Plambeck, first vice president of the Santa Clarita Organization for Planning and the Environment. ``We should not be building homes in the flood plain.''

Members of SCOPE, who have opposed every major Newhall Land project in the Santa Clarita Valley, are also concerned that there will not be enough water to serve the 664-acre development north of Soledad Canyon Road and east of the Santa Clara River.

Riverpark, if approved by the City Council, will complete the decades- old Valencia master plan used by Newhall Land to shape Santa Clarita into the suburban boom town that it is today.

Located in the heart of the city and surrounded on all sides by established neighborhoods, Riverpark would be evenly divided between houses and apartments, with easy access to the nearby Santa Clarita Metrolink Station, Lauffer said.

``It is already ... urbanized area, in the center of a growing city,'' Lauffer said. ``We're proud of our record of development along the river. Our track record speaks for itself.''

It will take the better part of a year to complete an environmental impact report that will detail the proposal's probable effect on the river and the surrounding area, according to Santa Clarita Planning Manager Vince Bertoni.

Bertoni said he expects biological impacts on the river to be the main issue, along with air quality. City officials also have reason to believe that there are American Indian relics buried along the river, Bertoni added.

The developer plans to create a 29-acre passive park along the banks of the Santa Clara River and to keep about 300 acres of the site in natural state as a buffer between the river and the housing.

City officials have already begun designing the passive park and set aside about half of the park's $4.7 million cost.

Bertoni also expects that plans to change the topography will be an issue. The developer wants to move 5.5 million cubic yards in grading.

``The EIR will tell us in more detail what we're dealing with,'' Bertoni said, adding that traffic is also likely to be a major issue.

The project, if approved, would generate millions of dollars in developer fees for three new major roads across the center of Santa Clarita, including two that will cross the river: the city's cross-valley connector and the Santa Clarita Parkway.

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Proposed Riverpark

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