RIO NORTE FIGHT RESUMES SCHOOL-CONSTRUCTION PLAN BACK IN COURT.

Byline: Kathleen Sweeney Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - A federal judge will be asked on Friday to order a temporary halt to construction of a much-needed junior high school along the banks of San Francisquito Creek.

The temporary restraining order is being sought by Friends of the Santa Clara River and the Center of Biological Diversity. Their representatives say construction of Rio Norte Junior High School should stop until the Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service review a plan by The Newhall Land and Farming Company for protection of the endangered arroyo toad.

The delay would give the federal agencies time to assess the area, said Barbara Wampole, vice chairwoman of Friends of the Santa Clara River.

``Now, the damage is being done,'' she said. ``We hope to prove these wetlands should not have been destroyed in the first place.''

Corps officials said Tuesday that they had not yet been notified of the hearing or request for a temporary retraining order.

The company will move ahead with construction, which began Monday, unless ordered by the court to stop, Newhall Land spokeswoman Marlee Lauffer said.

``It's extremely frustrating because they (environmentalists) are claiming the presence of the toad, which has never been sighted in the San Francisquito Creek,'' she said. ``The continued attempt by organizations to stop any activity in the area is delaying a much-needed junior high school.''

Nancy Sandberg, a biologist hired by the environmentalists, found the toad in April along the banks of San Francisquito Creek, an area where developers had previously assured federal agencies there was no sign of the endangered species. The toad also was discovered in the Santa Clara River, the environmentalists said.

The Corps of Engineers was scheduled to begin a review of Newhall Land's animal-protection plan last month. The corps would suspend permits for the work if it found the arroyo toad population would be seriously disrupted.

The plan outlines measures to protect aquatic species along the river where developers intend to build homes, bridges, riverbank-stabilization projects and culverts.

On Friday, county government issued some construction permits, but not for a bridge, after a Santa Barbara Superior Court judge lifted a temporary restraining order issued earlier this month on the construction of the school and the Decoro Drive bridge.