A large hurdle has been cleared, now that the Los Angeles Regional Planning Commission has approved Newhall Land and Farming Co.’s first phase of Newhall Ranch, called Landmark Village.
Apparently there was a bit of a ruckus downtown, as environmentalist weren’t too happy, as they thought their protest, and objection to this approval, would fall on deaf ears. The Planning Commission heard from Lynne Plambeck, but I doubt they listened. Lynne Plambeck, president of SCOPE (Santa Clarita Organization for Planning and the Environment), led the opposition.
Opponents of the Landmark Village approval, claim that there isn’t sufficient water resources to support the new community of homes that Newhall Land & Farming Co. have planned for. Of course, Newhall Land, and the Los Angeles County Regional Planning Commission don’t believe so. There was no new substantial evidence to support a reconsideration of the environmental impact report (EIR) according to the commission, that’s been in circulation for about a year or longer now. Newhall Land has stated that it’s done all it can to ensure the area will have sufficient water supply, they even purchased water from other sources, and plan on banking the water for years that are more dry.
This wasn’t the last hurdle for Landmark Village however. Now that the commission has done it’s job with Landmark Village, it’s sent over to the Board of Supervisors for consideration now and their approval, although there isn’t any indication as to how soon the issue will be heard in that forum. Yet again, the figures at SCOPE, and other ”environmentally” friendly organization will have another chance at being heard, and try to stop, what I feel is the inevitable. They planned on protesting yesterday’s Planning Commission meeting by putting applying blue duct tape to their mouths, to symbolize the fact their voice wouldn’t be heard on the issue, even though the public has previously had ample amount of time to voice it’s concerns.
Newhall Land appears confident that they will receive approval from the Board of Supervisors, due to the fact they have presented a consistent case for the new community, which at it’s tail end, may encompass about 21,000 new homes to the Santa Clarita Valley.
Email It!
