OPEN-SPACE TAX HEADS TO VOTERS PROPERTY OWNERS MULL $25 YEARLY TO BUY LAND IN, AROUND CITY.Byline: ALEX DOBUZINSKIS Staff Writer SANTA CLARITA Santa Clarita, city (1990 pop. 110,642), Los Angeles co., S Calif., suburb 30 mi (48 km) NW of downtown Los Angeles, on the Santa Clara River; inc. 1987. Situated in the Santa Clara valley and nearby canyons, Santa Clarita includes the former towns of Canyon Country, -- Two years after rejecting a similar measure, property owners soon will vote on whether Santa Clarita should buy open space in and around the city. City Council members say it's time It's Time was a successful political campaign run by the Australian Labor Party (ALP) under Gough Whitlam at the 1972 election in Australia. Campaigning on the perceived need for change after 23 years of conservative (Liberal Party of Australia) government, Labor put forward a to give the measure a second chance, after making changes to the proposal. "The intent is to acquire parcels where we possibly can, to create a buffer around this valley into perpetuity perpetuity n. forever. (See: in perpetuity, rule against perpetuities) PERPETUITY, estates. Any limitation tending to take the subject of it out of commerce for a longer period than a life or lives in being, and twenty-one years beyond; and in case of a ," Councilman Bob Kellar said. The council voted 5-0 last week to put the open space measure to a public vote. If approved, the measure would tax property owners $25 a year for the next 30 years. The tax base would allow the city to immediately borrow $23.4million and buy land up to three miles outside city limits. Opponents criticize the plan to buy land outside the city. "I think there's just a built-in unfairness that ... the city of Santa Clarita taxpayers are going to be paying for open space that's not even within our city limits," said Valencia resident Jim Farley, 52. "It's more going to benefit the residents outside the city." Farley, a utility technician, is leading the opposition to the measure. Unlike the open-space measure voters rejected in 2005, the tax assessment could not increase over time with the consumer price index. It could go up by only $1 a year, and the tax would sunset after 30 years. Proponents point out that back in 1896, Griffith J. Griffith Griffith Jenkins Griffith (January 4, 1850–July 6, 1919) was an American immigrant from Wales who made millions in a mining syndicate in the 1880s. He donated 3,015 acres to the city of Los Angeles which became Griffith Park, and he donated the money to build the donated thousands of acres to the city of Los Angeles
Farley said he is aware of that history, but he does not think the city should get new tax money to buy land. "Our tax burden is high enough already," he said. Santa Clarita will start mailing out ballots to property owners on May 25, city treasurer Darren Hernandez said. Voters will have until July 10 to return their ballots, which will be weighted to give larger property owners -- including businesses -- more of a say. Areas where the city is looking to buy land include the expanse from the Antelope Valley Freeway The Antelope Valley Freeway is a freeway in Los Angeles and Kern counties in southern California. It is signed as California State Highway 14 along its length. It connects Greater Los Angeles to the rapidly developing Antelope Valley. to the Angeles National Forest The Angeles National Forest (ANF) was established by executive order on December 20, 1892 as the San Gabriel Timberland Reserve. It covers over 2,600 km² (650,000 acres) and is located in the San Gabriel Mountains of Los Angeles County, just north of the metropolitan area of Los , as well as areas around Stevenson Ranch and Vasquez Rocks, according to a city report. "The longer we go without having funding to purchase and preserve open space, the less open space there is available," Hernandez said. alex.dobuzinskis@dailynews.com (661) 257-5253 |
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