The Santa Clarita City Council voted unanimously to oppose the proposed Las Lomas mega-development, citing the serious traffic, environmental and public safety concerns to neighborhoods in Santa Clarita and the greater Los Angeles region.
“The proposed Las Lomas development would be massive both in size and in lasting negative impacts on surrounding communities,” said Santa Clarita Mayor Marsha McLean. “The Santa Clarita City Council considers the safety and quality of life of our residents paramount and we strongly oppose this project based on its unrealistic land use and over-development,” she added.
Las Lomas, as currently proposed by Santa Monica-based Palmer Investments, proposes a massive, multi-use development, adding more than 5,500 units of housing, more than 2.7 million square feet of office, retail and community service space and a 300-room hotel to the hillsides adjacent to the Interstate 5/State Route 14 interchange, where only weeks ago, a big-rig accident closed the interstate and caused massive delays and fires raged in local canyons.
The resolution adopted by the City Council states that Las Lomas would exceed both the City’s and Los Angeles County’s General Plan density for the site by more than 2,000 percent. Each would allow approximately 250 units and no commercial uses. Among the concerns contributing to the City of Santa Clarita’s position were traffic congestion, environmental protection and issues related to public safety.
• Traffic Congestion: The project calls for the construction of more than 5,500 homes as well as 2,755,000 square feet of office, retail and community service uses and 300 hotel rooms. Las Lomas would house 15,000 new residents. This would add more than 72,000 daily vehicle trips to the traffic congestion on already overburdened surrounding freeways and surface streets.
• Harm to a Critical Wildlife Corridor: Construction of a large-scale development on this site would disrupt the last natural wildlife corridor between the San Gabriel Mountains and the Santa Susana Mountains. It would remove thousands of oak trees and destroy important riparian habitat and the wildlife corridor.
• Earthquake Threat: The project would be close to the San Gabriel Fault, the Placerita Fault, the Beacon Fault and especially, the Whitney Fault. The adjacent Interstate 5/State Route 14 interchange collapsed in both the 1972 and 1994 Northridge earthquakes. The entire project site is subject to landslides.
“The gridlock in the wake of the October 12 Interstate 5 tragedy is telling of the region’s susceptibility to disaster,” Mayor McLean said. “Adding a ‘mini-city’ to the very area that was recently affected by the recent tragedy is just poor planning.”
The Santa Clarita City Council joins United States members of Congress Brad Sherman and Howard P. “Buck” McKeon, California State Senator Alex Padilla, California State Assemblymember Cameron Smyth, Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich, Los Angeles City Councilmember Greig Smith, the Sierra Club – Angeles Chapter, Safe Action for the Environment, Santa Clarita Planning for the Environment, Los Angeles Trails Project, Transit Coalition, West Ranch Town Council, Knollwood Property Owners Association and the Sun Valley, Sylmar and North Hills West Neighborhood Councils in publicly opposing this massive new development.
Though the proposed project site lies adjacent to the City of Santa Clarita in an unincorporated area of the County of Los Angeles, the project’s developers are currently attempting to have the project annexed into the City of Los Angeles, which would charge the Los Angeles City Council with Las Lomas’ approval. The resolution adopted by the Santa Clarita City Council opposes any action that would further this dangerous project’s approval process.
For more information regarding the proposed Las Lomas development plan, please call the City of Santa Clarita at 661-255-4300 or visit www.santaclarita.com/news/laslomas/index.asp .