TOUR VISITS FUTURE GROWTH PLANNERS INSPECT SIERRA CORRIDOR.

Byline: JUDY O'ROURKE Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA -- Business parks, commercial centers and housing tracts might one day sprawl where a string of oil wells line Sierra Highway, a corridor that city planning commissioners toured recently to get ahead of the building curve.

During a 2 1/2-hour tour on Tuesday commissioners familiarized themselves with the route that linked Los Angeles to the High Sierra before the Antelope Valley (14) Freeway was built.

``We're going to have to really scrutinize everything else that's coming into the city, making sure we're continuing to preserve open space and wildlife corridors,'' commissioner Diane Trautman said. ``(We need to) preserve nature -- that is the draw for many people to this valley -- while we develop in a responsible way.''

Of the 22 projects envisioned for the area, six have been approved, four are pending and 12 are brewing. Among those on the go-ahead list are the 4.2-million-square-foot Needham Ranch industrial park at the southern gateway to Newhall and a 70-acre eastern campus for College of the Canyons to the northeast. While grading is expected to start this month for the new campus, Needham Ranch's water studies have been challenged in court, and that project is on hold.

The 1,300-home Skyline Ranch project being reviewed by county planners will provide a school and extend Plum Canyon Road to Sierra Highway.

Officials have recently approved specific plans for Downtown Newhall and northern Newhall to help upgrade those areas and guide development where a hodgepodge of uses prevails, but no such plan is yet in the works for the Sierra Highway corridor.

Senior planner Fred Follstad said the fact-finding mission allowed commissioners to glimpse an area due for massive change over the next decade or so. One such area sits at the juncture of Placerita Canyon Road and Sierra Highway, where Santa Clarita Parkway will thread to the freeway after the nearly 1,000-acre Whittaker-Bermite site in the center of town is developed, maybe seven to 10 years from now.

Senior city traffic engineer Ian Pari, who reviews all proposed development plans, was familiar with a number of the sites, but viewed of areas where mixed use and high end developments could be on the horizon, though no proposals have been filed yet.

Commissioner Bill Kennedy said he will be better able to judge the impact of the projects that come before him, some of which may be near a 50-year flood zone.

``Some owners of property are prevented from making property improvements, and it precludes others from building in a low-lying area,'' he said. ``It underscores importance of coordination between the city and county for some of these issues.''

Senior engineer Dennis Mak said a body of water sits on a 50-year flood plain and floodway near the northeast end of the city. When the water is confined to a concrete channel, projects can be built to the limits of that drainage system, he said.

Kennedy envisions a joint city-county effort to devise a channel or some other flood control measures, like the One Valley One Vision plan and its joint effort to define criteria for the valley's growth. Kennedy said ultimately a specific plan should be developed for the area, where mushrooming growth will one day abut city and county jurisdictions.

``We saw some pretty good contrast in the development in city limits and outside city limits,'' he said. ``My hat's off to the city planning staff for maintaining high standards. There's a visual difference in housing and commercial (projects.)''

Commissioner Michael Berger said the city is always looking for ways to enhance rundown areas and he is encouraged by beautification projects that might emerge in Canyon Country. He said in the past year many developers seemed more willing to accept staff recommendations, possibly because in the end they will benefit from the investment.

judy.orourke(at)dailynews.com

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