SunCal's Castaic NorthLake project is scheduled for public hearing on June 20.

The much-disputed Castaic NorthLake project by SunCal is up for another public hearing at the Los Angeles County Regional Planning Commission meeting at the Hall of Records on Temple Street in Los Angeles on June 20. The meeting is scheduled for 9am in Room 150.

NorthLake, which was originally billed as a golf course community, has been in the news recently because of its connection to the much-awaited Castaic High School. SunCal has agreed to donate building-ready land for the high school, but only if their project is allowed to move forward. They have been actively soliciting emails from Castaic residents in recent months to gather support for this project, with the high school site as pretty tasty bait.

The NorthLake project is located east of Interstate 5 Freeway, west of Castaic Lake State Recreation Area and north of Ridge Route Road. The new hearing is to approve the removal of the golf course, which is to be replaced by "alternative" open space plans, including 20.3 acres of parks. The hearing will also address a redistribution of residential lots that is needed because of the removal of the golf course.

The developers are requesting to build 1,053 single-family lots, 645 multi-family residences, one commercial lot, four industrial lots, 48 open space lots, 11 debris/desilting basin lots, 21 park lots, one private recreation center lot and one school site on 670 gross acres. The updated plan calls for including either an elementary school (K-6) or Junior High School (7-8) site in the project. The high school site is locate off-site from the main development area.

Opponents of the Castaic NorthLake project are mainly concerned with housing density and the increased traffic that will be generated by the project, as well as the apparent lack of adequate recreational space for a community of this size. John Kunak of the Castaic Town Council told the Daily News, "And I remain troubled by their continued refusal to provide in writing a lot of the promises they are making to individual community members in an attempt to garner support for their project."

Others have been questioning whether the NorthLake project has been given proper scrutiny by the Regional Planning Commission, given that the Castaic High School site hangs in the balance. Until Castaic High School becomes a reality, Castaic high schoolers will continue to be shuttled to other local high schools in the Santa Clarita area, including West Ranch High and Valencia High.

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