City of Santa Clarita to Revise Annexation Rules

Stating that the collection of signatures from 60% of Castaic's residents would be "daunting", a member of the Castaic Town Council put in a written request for an alteration of the annexation procedures for the City of Santa Clarita.

Up for discussion at the February 27 Santa Clarita City Council meeting is a revision to the existing policy that would allow for annexation if 5% of the registered voters of an area vote for the annexation. Once this level of support is received, the City of Santa Clarita will then survey the community to determine the level of support for annexation. The new policy also allows the City of Santa Clarita to pursue annexation any time there are other overriding circumstances.

The 5% threshold is identical to that found in the Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Local Government Reorganization Act of 2000, the State law that regulates annexations. Under this law, 5% of the registered voters must sign a petition to initiate the process.

While the Castaic Town Council seems to be initiating this change, it's not clear whether the City of Santa Clarita will approve annexation for the Castaic area only, or if they will go for the entire West Side as well (including Stevenson Ranch, Westridge, Sunset Pointe and Southern Oaks as well as Castaic and Val Verde). Economically, the City of Santa Clarita would be much better off if they annexed the entire West Side, including the retail areas in Stevenson Ranch.