NEWHALL RANCH FIGHT HEATS UP; VENTURA COUNTY TO RALLY STATE, FEDERAL AGENCIES.Byline: David Greenberg The creator of this article, or someone who has substantially contributed to it, may have a conflict of interest regarding its subject matter. It may require cleanup to comply with Wikipedia's content policies, particularly neutral point of view. Daily News Staff Writer Having already threatened to file suit to halt construction of Newhall Ranch, Ventura County supervisors are marshaling state and federal officials to oppose the 21,000-home development. The board plans on Tuesday to direct Thomas Berg, director of the county Resources Management Agency, to coordinate efforts with state and federal regulatory agencies. The county hopes to persuade agencies to use their clout to halt the project until its effects on the county are studied. ``We've been ignored by the county of Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. in every way,'' said Supervisor John Flynn. ``They are running over us. I'm asking the (agencies) to close the project down.'' Ventura County supervisors have been at odds with their counterparts in Los Angeles County over construction of Newhall Ranch, a massive residential and commercial project proposed by The Newhall Land and Farming Company The Newhall Land and Farming Company is a land management company based in Valencia, California, United States. The company is responsible for the master community planning of Valencia, as well as the management of farm land elsewhere in the state. for 12,000 acres in the Santa Clarita Valley The Santa Clarita Valley is the valley of the Santa Clara River in Southern California. It stretches through Los Angeles County and Ventura County. Its main population center is the city of Santa Clarita. The valley was part of the 48,612-acre (19,672. . Local officials contend that water, air and traffic problems will spill over Verb 1. spill over - overflow with a certain feeling; "The children bubbled over with joy"; "My boss was bubbling over with anger" bubble over, overflow seethe, boil - be in an agitated emotional state; "The customer was seething with anger" 2. the county line and wreak havoc on the environment in Ventura County. Ventura County officials hope to win support from state and federal agencies governing agriculture and water and air quality. At the same time, they are continuing their discussions over filing suit to halt the start of construction. ``I believe there will be strong support for 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. ,'' Supervisor Kathy Long said Friday. ``The seriousness of the water issue has gotten the attention of every board member. Newhall would cut off the replenishment of groundwater to all of the (Ventura County) basins flowing into the ocean. As a result, the seawater seawater Water that makes up the oceans and seas. Seawater is a complex mixture of 96.5% water, 2.5% salts, and small amounts of other substances. Much of the world's magnesium is recovered from seawater, as are large quantities of bromine. intrusion will destroy the agricultural community. It's a ripple effect ripple effect Epidemiology See Signal event. .'' Litigation challenging the adequacy of the project's environmental impact report would be filed within the required 30 days of L.A. County's approval and would cost as much as $250,000, she said. Newhall Land spokeswoman Marlee Lauffer said she was dismayed by the threat of a lawsuit. ``We obviously would be very disappointed if Ventura County chose to litigate,'' she said. ``We believe that Newhall Ranch is a well-planned, environmentally sensitive community. We have worked with L.A. County and Ventura County to address concerns.'' Lauffer said Newhall Ranch would rely on equal amounts of water from three sources: Castaic Lake water, contained behind its dam; the state supply wholesaled by the Castaic Lake Water Agency; and irrigation irrigation, in agriculture, artificial watering of the land. Although used chiefly in regions with annual rainfall of less than 20 in. (51 cm), it is also used in wetter areas to grow certain crops, e.g., rice. water from a treatment plant to be constructed on the 12,000-acre tract. Furthermore, Ventura County would be protected by L.A. County's Development Monitoring System, which mandates that developers must have a proven water source in place before building permits are issued. ``We do not believe their concerns are valid,'' Lauffer said. Spokesmen for L.A. County Supervisors Michael Antonovich, in whose district the 12,000-acre Newhall tract sits, and Zev Yaroslavsky, would not comment on the lawsuit or task force. |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion