Santa Clarita Homeowners Sue : Residents Seek to Ban Industrial Park

A Santa Clarita Valley homeowners group filed a lawsuit Friday to block a proposed industrial park in Castaic, alleging that Los Angeles County officials erred by not requiring an environmental impact report for the project.

The lawsuit also charges that the development would violate federal pollution standards and overburden roadways with traffic. The lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court by the Santa Clarita Valley Organization for the Environment, or SCOPE.

The group is asking the court to void permits granted for the park, which is planned for 49 acres of agricultural land in Hasley Canyon west of the Golden State Freeway and north of Henry Mayo Drive.

Group President Robert Silverstein said the group generally tries to avoid lawsuits and prefers negotiating with builders to create sound development plans. But in this case, he said, the group had exhausted all its appeals to the developer and the Board of Supervisors, which approved the permits for the project in November.

The industrial park is the first step of a 1,500-acre industrial development proposed by the Valencia Co. By itself, the smaller project would not violate federal standards on air pollutants, the group said.

But when combined with the remaining 1,451 acres, the overall Valencia Co. project would exceed pollution limits imposed on new industrial developments in August by the federal Environmental Protection Agency, the suit says. By dividing the 1,500-acre project into small parcels for county approval, the developer and supervisors sought to circumvent federal pollution laws, the suit argues.

The Valencia Co. is a division of Newhall Land & Farming Co., the largest developer in the rapidly growing Santa Clarita Valley. Company officials could not be reached for comment Friday.

The suit names as defendants the Board of Supervisors, the Regional Planning Commission and county Planning Director James Hartl.