SETBACK FOR GATE KING APPEALS COURT BACKS SCOPE ON ADEQUACY OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT.Byline: Judy O'Rourke Special to the Daily News 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, - The state Court of Appeal ruled Wednesday in favor of environmental groups that sued the city of Santa Clarita and a developer over environmental studies for a planned industrial and business park in Newhall. In a 49-page opinion, justices said a lower court erred in approving the environmental impact report, calling a section describing water supply for the park inadequate. The court upheld a lower court ruling that environmental documents properly addressed the city's hillside preservation ordinance and protection of rare plants. Lynne Plambeck, president of Santa Clarita Organization for Planning the Environment said she was pleased with the ruling. ``It validates what we've been saying for the last six years,'' she said. ``The court agreed with SCOPE's contention the environmental impact report's water analysis was inadequate and they were particularly concerned about the huge water transfer from Northern California Northern California, sometimes referred to as NorCal, is the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. The region contains the San Francisco Bay Area, the state capital, Sacramento; as well as the substantial natural beauty of the redwood forests, the northern and the perchlorate perchlorate: see chlorate. issue.'' Some Santa Clarita groundwater is contaminated contaminated, v 1. made radioactive by the addition of small quantities of radioactive material. 2. made contaminated by adding infective or radiographic materials. 3. an infective surface or object. with perchlorate, a rocket fuel residue, and cannot be used until a long-term cleanup is completed. ``We cannot solve these water supply problems by pretending they don't exist,'' Plambeck said. The California Oak Foundation, a statewide group, aligned with SCOPE in the lawsuit. Attorneys for the city downplayed the ruling. ``The city prevailed on two of them,'' said Stephen Onstot, of Burke, Williams and Sorensen. The court found the environmental report inadequate in terms of the depth of its analysis of water availability and the presentation of information in an appendix, rather than the text, he said. ``The appellate court A court having jurisdiction to review decisions of a trial-level or other lower court. An unsuccessful party in a lawsuit must file an appeal with an appellate court in order to have the decision reviewed. issued a fix-it ticket, and said when you fix it go back to the lower court for review and approval,'' he said. Onstot said the city has a number of options, but he declined to elaborate. The 160-acre Gate King industrial park is planned on Sierra Highway Sierra Highway is a road in Southern California, United States. It runs from Tunnel Station near the north limit of the City of Los Angeles, where it intersects with San Fernando Road and Foothill Boulevard, as well as Interstate 5, and continues north to Mojave, mostly paralleling , south of San Fernando Road San Fernando Road is a major street in the city and county of Los Angeles. It starts off in Castaic as The Old Road, passing through Santa Clarita and the Newhall Pass, where upon its intersection with Sierra Highway near the junction of the Golden State (I-5) and the , and would include light-industrial and commercial buildings nestled on 580 acres. The undeveloped areas would consist of parkland, trails and open space dedicated to the city. In addition to the water supply issue, plaintiffs' lawyers argued the city had violated its own Ridgeline ridge·line n. See ridge. Noun 1. ridgeline - a long narrow range of hills ridge arete - a sharp narrow ridge found in rugged mountains Preservation and Hillside Development Ordinance, and said the report did not sufficiently address the status or protection of several rare plants that might be found on the acreage. 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. Superior Court Judge Dzintra Janavs had ruled the city did not violate the ridgeline ordinance, and found no other fault with the environmental report. Mark Gates, who owns the development, said he was pleased everything else in the court's opinion was satisfactory. < ``We'll just go back and clean up the water portion of the Environmental Impact Report and get it done,'' he said. ``It's a question of providing adequate information in the (report) so the certifying body, the City Council, can find there is sufficient water for the project.'' Gates noted the Castaic Lake Castaic Lake is a lake on Castaic Creek formed by Castaic Dam, in northwestern Los Angeles County, California, near the town of Castaic. The 323,700 acre foot lake (399,000,000 m³) is the terminus of the West Branch of the California Aqueduct, though some comes from the 154 mi² Water Agency and the Newhall County Water District along with other local water districts have just completed the Urban Water Management Plan for 2005, which will supersede To obliterate, replace, make void, or useless. Supersede means to take the place of, as by reason of superior worth or right. A recently enacted statute that repeals an older law is said to supersede the prior legislation. the 2000 report cited in the environmental report. Gates anticipates the documentation needed to address the concerns of the court could be pulled together in the next two or three months. The timeline includes obtaining a new water supply assessment from the Newhall water district, a retailer, for the environmental report, getting the environmental report certified, returning to the water district with another application for annexation and applying with the Local Agency Formation Commission for annexation. ``It's what I call the bulldog bulldog, breed of thick-set nonsporting dog developed in the British Isles many centuries ago. It stands from 13 to 15 in. (33–38.1 cm) high at the shoulder and weighs from 40 to 50 lb (18.1–22.7 kg). theory,'' he said. ``You just bite down and keep shaking until you prevail. Everybody gets tired and goes home.'' The appeal process has taken about a year. Gates has been working on the project for about 15 years. In July, the Newhall water district had agreed to provide water for the proposed project, in spite of the ongoing lawsuit and the lack of support from several board members. On Oct. 18, Santa Clarita planning commissioners approved Burrtec Waste Industries' plan to build a state-of-the-art recycling facility in the industrial park. City officials are relying on the facility to help meet a state mandate to divert 50 percent of trash from landfills by 2006. On Tuesday, SCOPE filed an appeal with the city seeking to overturn the Planning Commission's approval of the recycling facility planned for the industrial park, deputy city clerk In the United States, a City Clerk is an elected or appointed official who is responsible as the official keeper of the municipal records. In some places, the Clerk may be known as the "Village Clerk" or "Town Clerk". Susan Coffman confirmed Wednesday. ``We need a material recovery facility in the city but an area that will destroy many oaks and impact a wildlife corridor is not necessarily the place for it,'' Plambeck said Wednesday. Judy O'Rourke, (661) 257-5255 judy.orourke(at)dailynews.com |
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