WESTSIDE DISTRICT PLANNING FOR SCHOOLS.

Byline: Marci Wormser Staff Writer

PALMDALE - Westside Union School District officials are making plans for building three or four schools in the 5,000-home Anaverde master-planned community, which is expected to start construction this year.

Westside will hire an Orange County legal firm that works for the city of Lancaster to negotiate with Anaverde's developers to determine building terms, including who will pay for the new schools.

``All our schools are packed right now,'' Superintendent John Costello said. ``We have an agreement with City Ranch to build schools there as they develop the property.''

The development, formerly known as City Ranch, is expected to eventually add more than 2,600 pupils to the Westside district, which has about 7,000 pupils in nine schools now.

``If you build that many homes, you're going to need additional schools in that area,'' said trustee John Ward.

Westside school board members voted 4-1 last week to hire the legal firm Stradling, Yocca, Carlson & Rauth. Board member Marty Meeden dissented.

The district plans to build two or three elementary schools and one middle school. The middle school will hold a maximum of 1,000 pupils, and the elementary schools up to 700, officials said.

The City Ranch project, which recently was renamed Anaverde for the valley in which it will be built, was approved eight years ago but stalled in the 1990s housing slump.

Ontario development firm Empire Companies formed a partnership with KB Home in December to develop City Ranch and said it planned to begin preliminary construction on the first 1,400 lots this spring. Empire officials could not be reached last week for comment.

Westside hopes to build its first school in the area within 14 to 16 months and another each subsequent year, Costello said.

The first school will serve pupils in kindergarten through eighth grade, Costello said. After the area's first middle school is built, seventh- and eighth-graders will be transferred there, he said. High school students will attend Highland High School.

If the district is forced to pick up some of the building costs, the construction will be paid for with fees assessed by the school district on new homes and business buildings, Costello said.

Empire Land officials said in December the company will grade the land and install streets, sewers, water pipes and other improvements, then sell the lots to major home builders. At the time, company officials said the first lots will be available to home builders in fall 2003, and in spring 2004 buyers are expected to start moving into homes priced from roughly $200,000 to $300,000.

As part of the first phase of work, Empire Land will widen Avenue S to four lanes along the two miles between the Antelope Valley Freeway and the project boundary.

CAPTION(S):

photo, map

Photo:

(color in AV edition only) Construction on the Anaverde development should begin this year and will eventually include 5,000 homes.

Map:

(ran in SAC edition only) Anaverde