SUIT FILED OVER RIVERPARK ENVIRONMENTALISTS: PROJECT WILL HURT WATERWAY.Byline: Susan Abram 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, - Four environmental groups have filed a lawsuit against the city for its approval of the 1,100-home Riverpark project to be built along the Santa Clara River Santa Clara River may refer to:
The complaint states that the city and the project 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. , ignored concerns by environmentalists, including the project's encroachment An illegal intrusion in a highway or navigable river, with or without obstruction. An encroachment upon a street or highway is a fixture, such as a wall or fence, which illegally intrudes into or invades the highway or encloses a portion of it, diminishing its width or area, but on the river's floodplains and the air and water pollution they say it will create. ``The Santa Clara River is a critically important waterway for rare wildlife in Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, and is one of the most endangered rivers in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. ,'' Peter Galvin, conservation director for the Center for Biological Diversity The Center for Biological Diversity combines conservation biology with litigation, policy advocacy, and an innovative strategic vision to secure a future for animals and plants hovering on the brink of extinction, for the wilderness they need to survive, and by extension for the , said in a statement issued Monday. ``We have filed this lawsuit because our public oversight agencies have once again miserably failed to provide protection for the river's web of life. Conservation is not just good common sense. It's the law.'' The lawsuit was filed Friday in Ventura County Superior Court by the Sierra Club Sierra Club, national organization in the United States dedicated to the preservation and expansion of the world's parks, wildlife, and wilderness areas. Founded (1892) in California by a group led by the Scottish-American conservationist John Muir, the Sierra Club , Friends of the Santa Clara River, the Center for Biological Diversity and the California Water Impact Network. The Saugus project last month received unanimous City Council approval. The council's approval came on the heels of a national report released in April, which stated that the Santa Clara River is the 10th-most-endangered in the United States. The proposal approved by the council calls for building 1,089 homes on the 695 acres, which under city regulations could contain up to 3,000 homes. Newhall Land says it is constructing parks and trails and has offered some 318 acres of open space from company-owned parcels around the city, in addition to 389 acres of riverfront land within the development. The land offered to the city includes the so-called ``Round Mountain'' property - 37 acres east of Interstate 5 and north of Magic Mountain Parkway. Newhall Land is also offering more than $22 million in right-of-way dedications and bridge fees for the city's 8.5-mile east-west Cross Valley Connector. ``Unfortunately, this is not a surprise,'' Newhall Land spokeswoman Marlee Lauffer said about the lawsuit. ``It is a big disappointment that they would litigate against Riverpark. There have been numerous public hearings. The project protects the river and will bring in far less homes than is actually allowed.'' Critics said the mitigations are inadequate. ``I just want (the city of Santa Clarita) to get the heck out of the floodplain floodplain, level land along the course of a river formed by the deposition of sediment during periodic floods. Floodplains contain such features as levees, backswamps, delta plains, and oxbow lakes. and protect the significant ecological area as they promised to do when they became a city,'' said Ron Bottorff, chairman of Friends of the Santa Clara River. ``Eighty percent of the portions of this project adjacent to the river are closer than 100 feet. This is not an adequate buffer.'' An attorney representing the city said Monday that he could not comment until the complaint was reviewed. Susan Abram, (661) 257-5255 susan.abram(at)dailynews.com |
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