Los Angeles County ignores residents and planning staff recommendations in approval of Park Place project.

At the June 6 meeting of the Los Angeles County Regional Planning Commission (RPC), the Park Place project in the Canyon Country area of the Santa Clarita Valley was approved in its entirety.

The approval of Synergy LLC’s Park Place project in Canyon Country seems to be a screaming example of how a builder’s financial needs can trump both common sense and Los Angeles County’s own planning staff concerns about the viability of a project.

The Park Place project will build 492 single family homes on about 500 acres in the Tick Canyon area by extending Shadow Pines Blvd. northward. The project will consist of clustered homes with 284 acres left as natural open space and 16 acres to be constructed as a park to be dedicated to the County.

According to the Daily News, Susan Tae, supervising regional planner, said the Newport Beach-based developer Synergy LLC has said it needs 492 homes for the project to be economically viable. Am I the only one wondering why the developer’s financial needs should be a primary factor in approving (or disapproving) a project? The County’s own staff has declared the Park Place project "inconsistent with the Santa Clarita Valley Area Plan".

Per the staff report on the project, "Staff feels that the project, as currently designed [492 single-family lots], may be inconsistent with the Santa Clarita Valley Area Plan ("Plan") with respect to transfer of density. The Plan permits density transfers of units from urban to nonurban, subject to certain criteria including geographic or topographic constraints. The Plan however, also prohibits denisty transfer to areas predominately 50 percent slope, which the project is."

The County’s studies for the project also stated that it would add "approximately 5,392 vehicle trips on a typical weekday" to the Shadow Pines area. That’s a HUGE increase in traffic for current residents of the Shadow Pines area!

Tick Canyon Wash is supposed to be preserved in its "natural river state" so the "visual and natural setting is maintained". The homes are also supposed to be built away from primary and secondary ridgelines to they won’t be seen by existing homeowners. 

Still, despite the County Planning Staff’s concerns, the project was approved with no reduction in the number of total homes to be built. The only change was to alter the plans from creating a 4-lane extension of Shadow Pines Blvd. to leaving it as a 2-lane road.

Note that this development area sits just outside the City of Santa Clarita, so the Los Angeles County Regional Planning Commission has full control over development in this area.

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