PALMDALE CAMPUS FOR AVC HITS SNAG D.R. HORTON PULLS OUT OF COLLEGE PARK PLANS.

Byline: JIM SKEEN

Staff Writer

PALMDALE -- A master-planned development that includes a Palmdale campus for Antelope Valley College suffered a setback when homebuilder D.R. Horton announced it is pulling out.

But officials familiar with the project said another developer might be in the wings.

D.R. Horton notified AVC officials in a letter that it was pulling out of the College Park project but gave no reasons for the withdrawal, college officials said Friday. Calls to D.R. Horton's regional office were not returned.

AVC President Jackie Fisher said another developer is interested in the project but it's premature to identify the party. Fisher said he hoped a proposal could be brought forward in a few days.

"Plan B is ready," Fisher said. "We're still going to make something happen."

The community college, located in Lancaster, had planned to pay $5 million toward streets, water and sewer lines, and other work needed to establish a Palmdale campus on 70 acres at 37th Street East and Avenue V as part of the College Park development. The overall development covers 540 acres and would involve more than 800 homes.

The college is working with a company, AC Martin Partners Inc., to prepare a master plan for the Palmdale campus. Plans call for it to evolve over time, with the initial structures expected to handle about 1,200 students.

Eventually, the south campus would handle about 10,000 students.

Part of the Palmdale campus' initial development is to be funded from a $139 million bond measure approved by voters in 2004.

The project was first proposed in the early 1990s and had been the subject of intense negotiations involving the city over the shaping of a specific plan to guide the development and with the college over how much AVC should contribute toward street, sewer, water and other infrastructure.

"It's very frustrating," Mayor Jim Ledford said of the latest snag. "I'm very concerned about this. We had a bond pass and the money is still sitting there."

Before state officials will allow construction of the second campus, the college must sustain an enrollment in Palmdale of at least the equivalent of 500 full-time students. The full-time equivalent count is about 150 students, said college spokesman Steve Standerfer.

The college hopes to grow that enrollment to about 200 students this fall, Standerfer said.

"We are fully committed to the residents of Palmdale and the whole south valley," Standerfer said.

james.skeen(at)dailynews

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