LAS LOMAS STRATEGY DRAWS FIRE CITY'S PLAN COULD KILL PROJECT.

Byline: Heather MacDonald Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - After beefing up its environmental study of the pre-emptive action, the Santa Clarita City Council has completed its plans to annex 555 acres in the Newhall Pass, where a developer hopes to build 5,800 homes.

The Local Agency Formation Commission, which handles annexations in Los Angeles County, has two competing applications for the same property - one from the city of Santa Clarita; the other from Palmer, who wants the area to become part of the city of Los Angeles.

At its Tuesday evening meeting, the council unanimously adopted a plan to make the area south of Santa Clarita consistent with the city's General Plan, which could kill the proposed Las Lomas development.

An attorney for developer Dan S. Palmer condemned the vote, saying the environmental assessment of the proposed annexation violated state law.

``This action is beneath you,'' R.J. Comer, an attorney for Palmer's Las Lomas Land Co., told the council. ``This action is beneath the reputation that this body has for good governance.''

Comer also said the impending legal fight over the Las Lomas development would waste city resources.

``This is an abuse of process to block a project you oppose,'' Comer said. ``There are more appropriate ways to make your concerns known.''

In January, the council rescinded its initial approval of the proposed annexation in order to broaden the environmental assessment after Comer warned that the original study was insufficient because of the likelihood that the area would be developed.

Although the council stopped short of completing a full environmental impact report, as Comer called for, the expanded study will strengthen the city's position in court, said City Attorney Carl Newton.

No development is proposed as part of the action, Newton said.

Palmer contends that the project must be part of Los Angeles to have access to reliable utilities through the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. He has accused Santa Clarita of inappropriately judging Las Lomas, which is undergoing an environmental study by Los Angeles city planners.

Santa Clarita officials counter that the area is distinctly separate from the San Fernando Valley and that the project's 15,000 residents would get the most efficient municipal services from Santa Clarita, not Los Angeles.

``It is in LAFCO's hands now,'' said Jeff Lambert, Santa Clarita's planning director .

Neither application is complete, according to LAFCO Executive Director Larry Calemine.

Under Santa Clarita's zoning plan, a minimum lot size of two acres per home would be imposed on 811 acres south of the city, to require estate- style planning, while lots on 14 acres along The Old Road could be smaller, at least 5,000 square feet per home - allowing no more than 560 homes in all.

Currently, Los Angeles County government requires at least one acre per home on the steep terrain in the San Gabriel Mountains.

Las Lomas has also drawn opposition from environmentalists and officials who fear dense development would add to freeway congestion and destroy cherished wilderness separating the San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys.

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5,800 HOMES PROPOSED