VOTE TABLED ON NEWHALL RANCH PLAN : LOOKING TO THE FUTURE.

Byline: Teresa Jimenez Daily News Staff Writer

A long-term agreement to guarantee build-out of the proposed Newhall Ranch was tabled Wednesday to give the developer time to negotiate deals to build schools, libraries and other facilities to serve the 24,000-home project.

The Los Angeles County Regional Planning Commission agreed to a request from The Newhall Land and Farming Company to hold off public hearings on a development agreement until the other deals are struck.

At the same time, Jim Harter, the company's executive vice president in charge of Newhall Ranch, asked the Planning Commission to proceed with its general consideration of the 24,000-home development and its environmental impact report.

``We want to move the project forward while the development agreement is being finalized,'' Harter said. ``We would like to get the Board of Supervisors' approval.''

Wednesday's decision by the Planning Commission should speed up a recommendation on Newhall Ranch, which was delayed while the planning panel considered the development agreement. The two items are typically approved separately, but county and Newhall Land officials elected months ago to push both forward, said Newhall Land spokeswoman Marlee Lauffer.

The commissioners will discuss the EIR for the project Dec. 17, the largest of its kind ever to be proposed in Los Angeles County. The project will sit on 12,000 acres between the Golden State Freeway and the Ventura-Los Angeles county line. Construction would extend over 30 years.

Scott Ellison, a Ventura County senior planner who coordinated the county's response to Newhall Ranch, said Wednesday's decision to delay action will not substantially affect the county.

``Personally, I don't think this cutting off of the developer agreement (from the rest of the project) has a material impact on Ventura County,'' he said. ``The battle will be won or lost at the environmental impact report and the project design stage, not at the developer agreement stage.''

Ventura County has raised a number of concerns about the project and its environmental review, including the development's potential impact on flood control, water quality and quantity, air quality, wildlife and traffic.

Newhall Land has selected a private, nonprofit organization, the Center for Natural Lands Management, to maintain the property, and the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy is worried that deal will limit the public's access to trails on the property. The conservancy, a state-funded agency, wants control over the land.

On Wednesday, the Center for Natural Lands Management Executive Director Sherry Teresa addressed the Planning Commission's concerns over who would control the property, explaining that the organization manages 45,000 acres of open space around the state. The acreage includes public use of trails and species reserves, she said.

``There's a tremendous public benefit here without a cost to the taxpayer,'' Teresa said.

But Commissioner Esther Feldman questioned why Newhall Land had the power to approve which Center for Natural Lands Management employees could sign checks over $10,000 and why Newhall Land had the power to fire the agency.

On another front, Laura Zucker with the Los Angeles County Arts Commission asked that the planning panel consider money for cultural arts and the inclusion of public art in the development. Public art has been overlooked in planning for years, she said.

``This is a chance to set a very important precedent,'' Zucker said. ``This issue should come before you in years to come.''

Though the concept sounded appealing to some, Commission Chairwoman Sadie Clark warned that the list of agencies requesting more services would force the developer to raise housing prices.

``With every condition we place on this project, we are increasing the price of housing,'' Clark said. ``We must consider that. I do want art included, but we must consider that we are increasing the cost.''

The Newhall Ranch project, as proposed by the Newhall Land and Farming Co., would include the following features:

- up to 25,218 homes

- 384 acres for businesses

- 12 parks

- 15-acre lake

- 18-hole golf course

- Two fire stations

- One library

- Public trails system

- Water reclamation plant

- Electrical substation 

- 1,088 acres of open space

- 4,762 acres of open space in environmentally sensitive areas 

- Sites for five elementary schools, one junior high and one high school.

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MAP: LOOKING TO THE FUTURE (see text)

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