Palmdale Ca Annexations

City Ranch, a planned 5,200-unit Kaufman and Broad Home Corp. community west of Palmdale, is one step away from final approval after a county panel voted Wednesday to annex the 1,985-acre area into the city. The 5-0 decision by the county's Local Agency Formation Commission paves the way for a final annexation vote on the project June 10 by the Palmdale City Council. If built, the community would be one of the largest developed in the Antelope Valley.

Houses may be under construction in the 5,200-unit City Ranch development in west Palmdale as early as next year, representatives of Kaufman & Broad Home Corp. said Friday. The City Council approved annexation of the 2,020-acre site where the project is planned without discussion Thursday. It was Palmdale's first annexation since November, when the council approved its largest-ever addition--the 11,000-acre Ritter Ranch property.

After a spirited debate, the City Council voted to begin annexing a local neighborhood, where a convicted Los Angeles slumlord owns 72 decrepit rental houses. In a 4-1 vote to begin the months-long process, council members said Thursday that the city is better equipped to combat the area's many code violations. Los Angeles County officials after two years have won little cooperation from the property's owner, Milton Avol, a physician. Many of Avol's houses have been boarded up.

Standing in a cherry orchard in full bloom Tuesday morning, members of the Leona Valley Town Council announced that they had filed a lawsuit against a developer and the city of Palmdale, attacking the environmental review of a 7,200-house development planned next to their rural community.

The Palmdale City Council has stalled the 7,200-unit Ritter Ranch project, one of Southern California's largest planned developments, by delaying its annexation to the city. Council members decided on the delay because they fear that the state's budget problems could cut several million dollars from city revenues, which would make it difficult to provide police protection and other municipal services to a vast new area such as the 10,625-acre project.

The state budget crisis has prompted Palmdale lawmakers to raise a once-unthinkable question: Can Palmdale, the fastest-growing California city in the 1980s, afford to keep expanding at its once-rapid pace? Although debate over growth has long fueled civic disputes in Los Angeles and other urban areas, the premise of "more is better" has been the virtually unquestioned development creed of the Antelope Valley--until now.

Proponents of the huge Ritter Ranch project on Wednesday won their long fight to have the 10,625-acre property included in the city of Palmdale, virtually clearing the way for one of the largest residential developments in Los Angeles County history. "We're thrilled at this culmination to our three-year effort," said Peter Wenner, general manager of Ritter Park Associates, the partnership that seeks to develop the parcel, southwest of Palmdale, with 7,200 houses over 20 years.

Construction could begin by next October on the mammoth Ritter Ranch community planned for west Palmdale, the project's manager said Friday, following a final City Council decision to annex the area. The council, as expected, voted 4 to 1 Thursday night to add the 17-square-mile area to Palmdale, the largest annexation in the city's 30-year history. Over a period of 20 years, plans call for Ritter Ranch to grow into a community of about 20,000 residents.

Construction could begin by next October on the mammoth Ritter Ranch community, planned for west Palmdale, after a final City Council decision last week to annex the area, according to the project's manager. The council voted 4 to 1 Thursday to add the 17-square-mile area to Palmdale, the largest annexation in the city's 30-year history. Over 20 years, Ritter Ranch is expected to grow into a community of about 20,000 residents.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to transfer 20 unimproved acres of county property to Palmdale for a city park. The property, which was the site of the proposed Tejon County Park, was annexed by Palmdale in 1989. The Palmdale City Council plans to develop the property as a park and playground. The rectangular site is located near Sierra Highway and Barrel Springs Road, a few blocks east of Lake Palmdale.