The Castaic Area Town Council is scheduled Wednesday to address presentations from the county and a draft of a letter regarding the Tapia Ranch development project’s emergency access road.
Tesoro access road
Council President Jessica Chambers said Monday that the council would decide by the end of the meeting the exact wording of a letter that discusses the council’s views on a road linking Tapia Ranch to Tesoro del Valle. As currently planned, that road would be gated and available for emergency access only.
At the council’s last meeting on Aug. 15, Jon Myhre, speaking on behalf of the Tapia Ranch development project, said the environmental impact review process was beginning and the project is slated to break ground in 2021.
The council voiced concerns in August regarding the planned emergency access road, which in effect would isolate large parts of the northern Castaic community in case of natural disasters and freeway closures, Chambers said.
The letter being drafted Wednesday would address this issue, putting a voice to the council’s discomfort with the road being gated, she said.
The Tesoro del Valle homeowners association favors the road being gated and for emergency access only.
At least 405 homes are scheduled to be built for the project, to be located on Tapia Canyon Road at Castaic Road. It includes eight open space lots, one water tank, one water pump station, a park, nine lots earmarked for the Los Angeles County Fire Department and one private street.
“The concern we have with the roadway isn’t something we can fight,” Chambers said in August. “Tesoro wants the access to be emergency-only, so it will stay an emergency road.”
Other items
With a month to go until its town council elections, the council will also announce the period for election nominations to begin, Chambers said.
The council will also have a discussion regarding traffic gridlock in Castaic from Los Angeles County 5th District Supervisor Kathryn Barger’s office, and the county’s Parks and Recreation Department.
Parks and Recreation officials plan to talk about Measure A funding to the Castaic area, and how it would apply to maintaining their open spaces, according to the Castaic Town Council agenda.
The Castaic Area Town Council, which is an advisory panel to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, meets 6:30 p.m. on the third Wednesday of the month at the Castaic Union School District office, located at 28131 Livingston Ave.
