NEW OLD GLORY SPAT TREE LOVERS SAY HIGHWAY PLAN A SHOCK.Byline: Amy Raisin Staff Writer STEVENSON RANCH Stevenson Ranch, California (in the 91381 ZIP Code) is a Los Angeles County, USA, unincorporated community west of Santa Clarita a few miles south of Six Flags Magic Mountain amusement park. The Stevenson Ranch fountain was redone in 2007. - From a back yard overlooking the green leaves of Old Glory on Thursday, community residents and others working to keep a centuries-old oak in its place objected to the county's plans to turn Pico Canyon Road into a busy, four-lane highway. Homeowner Sherri Allen said she is shocked by the plans to expand the road to highway status, which under state and federal regulations must be designed to accommodate speeds up to 65 mph. ``The speed limit, the noise, the pollution. I don't think that's a safe environment for kids to grow up in,'' Allen said. ``We moved here in February of last year, and we were told it would be a private enclave - like what you see is what you get (jargon) What You See Is What You Get - (WYSIWYG) /wiz'ee-wig/ Describes a user interface for a document preparation system under which changes are represented by displaying a more-or-less accurate image of the way the document will finally appear, e.g. when printed. .'' According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. officials in the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works The Los Angeles County Department of Public Works (LACDPW) is responsible for the construction and operation of Los Angeles County's roads, building safety, sewerage, and flood control. , the two-lane road that snakes past the now-famous oak tree, whose eventual transplant was protested for more than two months, must be expanded to four lanes and include a 1,500-foot horizontal centerline cen·ter·line n. 1. A line that bisects something into equal parts. 2. A painted line running along the center of a road or highway that divides it into two sections for traffic moving in opposite directions, or, in the case of radius to meet safety standards Safety standards are standards designed to ensure the safety of products, activities or processes, etc. They may be advisory or compulsory and are normally laid down by an advisory or regulatory body that may be either voluntary or statutory. . ``Because it's designated as a major highway, (that) requires us to design it with 65 miles per hour in mind,'' said Ken Pellman, a department spokesman. ``I can't say yet what the speed limit will be, but it will never be 65.'' John Quigley John B. Quigley is a professor of law at the Moritz College of Law at the Ohio State University, where he is the Presidents' Club Professor of Law. In 1995 he was recipient of The Ohio State University Distinguished Scholar Award. , the activist who spent more than 70 days and nights in the tree to keep developers from uprooting it, said the highway plans are overkill overkill Vox populi An excess of anything . Though he was removed from his perch by law enforcement officers three weeks ago, he vowed to continue the fight to save the tree. ``We could never understand why our alternate road plans kept getting turned down,'' Quigley said. ``It seems (county officials were) attempting to push this road through under the radar This article is about the magazine. For other uses, see Under the Radar (disambiguation). Under the Radar is an American magazine that bills itself as "The solution to music pollution." It features interviews with accompanying photo-shoots. screen. This is not over.'' Plans to expand Pico Canyon Road date back to 1940, when the stretch of road was mentioned in a report from the county's Regional Planning Commission. It is needed to accommodate future traffic expected from John Laing Homes' Southern Oaks housing development, the fifth phase of the Stevenson Ranch project and the proposed 21,600-home Newhall Ranch. Opponents of the expansion, however, say there should be an environmental impact report and input from local residents for such a large project, so close to a residential neighborhood and school. ``How can there never be any public hearings?'' questioned Lynne Plambeck, president of the Santa Clarita Organization for Planning the Environment. She called for county supervisors to put the issue on their agenda for a full review. CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1 -- color) With John Quigley at her side, homeowner Sherri Allen assails county plans to make Pico Canyon Road a four-lane highway. (2 -- color) Barbara Wampole photographs Pico Canyon Road during a protest against expanding it into a four-lane highway. David R. Crane/Staff Photographer |
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