Newhall Ranch Housing Development

Plans to reduce the proposed 25,000-unit Newhall Ranch housing development by 500 units will be one of the central issues discussed by the Los Angeles County Regional Planning Commission at a hearing Wednesday. At the hearing, the fifth on the project, the Planning Commission is also expected to review plans by the developer, Newhall Land & Farming Co., to dedicate a 3,900-acre area known as the High Country for public use.

The proposed Newhall Ranch residential development project received another setback this week when a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge issued a preliminary ruling that supported concerns raised by environmentalists. Developers seek to eventually house about 60,000 residents along a six-mile stretch of the Santa Clara River. Environmentalists argue that the development would harm the waterway, destroy wildlife habitat and despoil Native American cultural sites. The project has languished for years amid heavy opposition.

Opponents of the proposed Newhall Ranch housing development criticized plans for the project at a public hearing before the county's Regional Planning Commission on Tuesday, saying the development is on seismically unsafe ground and could wreck the environment. The Newhall Land & Farming Co. is seeking to build the largest master-planned housing development in county history.

The Santa Clara River, which snakes 84 miles from the San Gabriel Mountains to the Ventura County coast, is one of two California waterways that rank among the nation's most threatened for 2005, according to an environmental group that annually compiles a list of endangered rivers.

Bowing to complaints from Ventura County officials and environmental groups, the state Public Utilities Commission has agreed to hold a hearing on whether sufficient supplies of water are available to serve the massive Newhall Ranch housing development.

Despite a proposal to scale back the massive Newhall Ranch housing development, Ventura County officials and environmentalists Wednesday vowed to continue fighting to ensure their concerns are not ignored. On Tuesday, Supervisor Kathy Long said concessions proposed by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors were welcome and offered an opportunity to resolve outstanding issues--from water to wildlife--without litigation.

The local chapter of the Sierra Club has filed a complaint with the state Public Utilities Commission alleging plans to supply water to the mammoth Newhall Ranch housing development could draw so much from the Santa Clara River and underground supplies it would threaten water supplies for the entire Santa Clarita Valley.

Led by officials representing Santa Clarita, opponents blasted the proposed Newhall Ranch housing development Thursday as a short-sighted plan that would hurt the entire region by contributing to urban sprawl. "This," said Mary Weisbrock, founder of the environmental group Save Open Space, "will be the goose that killed the golden egg of Santa Clarita Valley tranquillity." The proposal's latest round of criticism came during a public hearing before the County Regional Planning Commission.

Bowing to complaints from Ventura County officials and environmental groups, the state Public Utilities Commission has agreed to hold a hearing on whether sufficient supplies of water are available to serve the massive Newhall Ranch housing development.

The developer of the massive Newhall Ranch project released the findings of a new environmental report Monday that declares it has access to enough water to supply the 22,000-home suburb planned near the Ventura County line. Newhall Land and Farming maintains in the report that 17,000 acre-feet of water would come from the State Water Project, ground water supplies, reclaimed water from the development site and purchases from a private water company in Kern County.

Two environmental groups have filed suit to prevent shipments of water from Kern County farms to burgeoning developments in the Santa Clarita Valley. Officially, the annual shipments of 41,000 acre-feet of water are destined for Castaic Lake Water Agency's existing customers in northern Los Angeles County and southern Ventura County, as well as for upcoming Santa Clarita Valley developments that the agency would serve. An acre-foot of water is enough to meet the needs of two families for a year.

Environmentalists are expected to continue their fight against the 20,885-home Newhall Ranch subdivision with a rally today decrying proposed changes to the river that runs through the site. As part of its project, developer Newhall Land & Farming Co. hopes to build flood-prevention banks along the Santa Clara River, as well as utility crossings and other features that require a federal environmental permit. The permit application is being reviewed by the U.S.

Environmental groups have appealed a judge's decision to allow construction of the 21,000-home Newhall Ranch subdivision, an attorney for the groups said Wednesday. Environmentalists lost their challenge of the Newhall project in October.

After years of environmental controversy and legal battles, a Kern County judge cleared the way for the 20,885-home Newhall Ranch, one of the largest development proposals in Los Angeles County history. In a six-page ruling Wednesday, Superior Court Judge Roger D.

Attorneys for environmental groups laid out their remaining concerns about the massive Newhall Ranch development in court Tuesday, focusing attention on water quality and the project's effect on a small federally endangered fish that lives in the nearby Santa Clara River.

Two companies accused of leaving oil contamination on the Newhall Ranch property in northern Los Angeles County have agreed to clean it up as part of a tentative settlement, a spokeswoman for developer Newhall Land & Farming Co. said Wednesday. The developer sued the companies in 2001, claiming they were responsible for "severe and extensive" contamination on about 1,300 acres of the roughly 12,000-acre proposed Newhall Ranch subdivision, a 20,885-home project that L.A.

While seeking approval for the largest subdivision in Los Angeles County, developer Newhall Land & Farming Co. has also been waging a court battle to force two oil companies to clean up "severe and extensive" oil contamination spreading under the property. The developer estimates the cleanup could cost tens of millions of dollars, according to court records. In the suit, filed in 2001 in Los Angeles Superior Court, Newhall Land accuses Kerr-McGee Corp. and Medallion California Properties Co.

State Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer requested permission from a judge Thursday to submit a legal brief supporting Ventura County's fight against Los Angeles County over the massive Newhall Ranch development. The 22,000-home project, which would create the single largest development in Southern California history, is planned just east of the Ventura County line along the Santa Clara River.

With demand for housing driving Southern California real estate prices to record highs, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved the largest residential development in county history Tuesday, one that has stoked years of debate over suburban growth in a region that is expected to add 6 million people within 30 years.

After reviewing 43 boxes of environmental documents for the 21,000-home Newhall Ranch subdivision, Los Angeles County planning officials have determined that the developer has nothing to hide and they are recommending approval of the project at today's Board of Supervisors meeting. The review of the material was requested in March by county Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, who said he was "troubled" by Newhall Land & Farming Co.'s treatment of the San Fernando Valley spineflower.