NEWHALL RANCH VOTE TABLED; DEVELOPER GIVEN ADDED TIME TO NEGOTIATE DEALS.Byline: Teresa Jimenez Daily News Staff Writer A long-term agreement to guarantee completion of the proposed Newhall Ranch community was tabled Wednesday to give the developer time to negotiate deals to build schools, libraries and other facilities to serve residents of the 24,000 homes that are planned. The 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. County Regional Planning regional planning: see city planning. Commission agreed to a request from the developer, 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. , to hold off public hearings until deals are struck. At the same time, Jim Harter, executive vice president of Newhall Land in charge of the project, asked the commission to proceed with its general consideration of the 24,000-home proposal and its final environmental impact report. ``We want to move the project forward while the development agreement is being finalized See finalization. ,'' Harter said. ``We would like to get the Board of Supervisors' approval.'' The decision by the Planning Commission Noun 1. planning commission - a commission delegated to propose plans for future activities and developments commission, committee - a special group delegated to consider some matter; "a committee is a group that keeps minutes and loses hours" - Milton Berle should speed up a recommendation on Newhall Ranch, which was delayed while the commission considered the development agreement for the project, the largest of its kind ever to be proposed in Los Angeles County. Such an agreement is typically approved separately, but county and Newhall Land officials had been pushing concurrent action, said Newhall Land spokeswoman Marlee Lauffer. The commissioners said they will discuss the environmental report Dec. 17. The project will sit on 12,000 acres between the Golden State Freeway The Golden State Freeway is a north-south freeway running through Kern County and Los Angeles County, California. Originally built as U.S. Highway 99, it was re-signed as Interstate 5 in 1964. and the Ventura-Los Angeles counties line. Construction would extend over 30 years. Some in the audience Wednesday came to speak on the development agreement. The commission said they could do so Nov. 17. Lauffer said approval of the Newhall Ranch project would help the company hammer out more specific agreements with agencies such as the school districts and parks department. The company cannot agree on spending for schools, parks and other amenities before executives know whether the county will approve 24,000 homes on the property, Lauffer said. ``We need to know the commission's intent on the project,'' Lauffer said. The continuance The adjournment or postponement of an action pending in a court to a later date of the same or another session of the court, granted by a court in response to a motion made by a party to a lawsuit. on the development agreement gives Newhall Land time to negotiate with the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy is an agency of the state of California in the United States founded in 1979 and dedicated to the acquisition of land in the Santa Susana and Santa Monica Mountains and the Simi Hills, north and west of Los Angeles, for preservation as open over the donation of 6,000 acres of open space as part of the development. Newhall Land has selected a private, nonprofit organization Nonprofit Organization An association that is given tax-free status. Donations to a non-profit organization are often tax deductible as well. Notes: Examples of non-profit organizations are charities, hospitals and schools. called the Center for Natural Lands Management to maintain the property, and conservancy officials fear the deal will limit the public's access to trails on the property. The conservancy, a state-funded agency, wants control over the land. Trails are open to the public on 45,000 acres of open space that the center already manages around the state, its executive director, Sherry Teresa, told the commission. ``There's a tremendous public benefit here without a cost to the taxpayer,'' Teresa said. But Commissioner Esther Feldman questioned why Newhall Land planned to retain hiring-firing power over the center and to control any check from the center for more than $10,000. Officials of several agencies testified before the commission postponed most of the hearing. Laura Zucker of the Los Angeles County Arts Commission wanted donations for the arts to be a developer requirement. ``This is a chance to set a very important precedent,'' Zucker said. Though the concept sounded appealing to some, Commission Chairwoman Sadie Clark warned that required donations can raise housing prices. ``With every condition we place on this project, we are increasing the price of housing,'' Clark said. ``We must consider that. I do want art included, but we must consider that we are increasing the cost.'' LOOKING TO THE FUTURE The Newhall Ranch project, as proposed by the Newhall Land and Farming Co., would include the following features: - up to 25,218 homes - 384 acres for businesses - 12 parks - 15-acre lake - 18-hole golf course - Two fire stations - One library - Public trails system - Water reclamation plant - Electrical substation An electrical substation is a subsidiary station of an electricity generation, transmission and distribution system where voltage is transformed from high to low or the reverse using transformers. - 1,088 acres of open space - 4,762 acres of open space in environmentally sensitive areas An Environmentally Sensitive Area (ESA) is a type of designation for an agricultural area which needs special protection because of its landscape, wildlife or historical value. - Sites for five elementary schools elementary school: see school. , one junior high and one high school. CAPTION(S): Map MAP: LOOKING TO THE FUTURE (see text) Daily News |
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