11.newhall/Sarkisian/7″/mike1st/mark2nd

No. 11

Newhall Ranch Approved

After four years in the pipeline, Newhall Ranch finally received unanimous approval from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors in November.

The board’s sign-off of the largest master-planned project in L.A. County history touched off a firestorm of protest from Ventura County supervisors, who vowed to block the project in court. Ventura County officials argued that Newhall Ranch would deplete the natural resources of the area’s citrus-growing valley. In addition, the Sierra Club filed a complaint with the state Public Utilities Commission, maintaining that the project would create water shortages.

Tucked between the Ventura County line and the city of Santa Clarita, Newhall Ranch is designed to be a planned community of roughly 21,000 homes, along with retail shops and parkland. It is being developed by Newhall Land & Farming Co.

Yet the project’s proximity to the county line has Ventura County officials arguing that their residents will suffer the brunt of the development’s costs (traffic congestion, noise, pollution, etc.), and that L.A. County residents will reap most of the benefits (new housing, sales and property tax revenues, etc.).

Ironically, on the very same day that L.A. supervisors approved Newhall Ranch, Ventura County supervisors approved Ahmanson Ranch a similarly huge master-planned project just over the county line. Los Angeles officials strongly oppose Ahmanson Ranch for the same reasons Ventura County officials oppose Newhall Ranch.

Nola L. Sarkisian