The Santa Clarita City Council unanimously executed pre-annexation agreements Tuesday between the city and two development groups.
The agreements are with Plum Canyon Master, LLC, and with Pardee Homes Inc. and Tri Pointe Homes Inc., for a total of 3,118 acres to be annexed into the city.
In two summarized presentations, the City Council heard a breakdown of the annexations from city planner Patrick Leclair.
The perimeters of the acreage are generally marked northeast of the existing jurisdictional boundary of the city, along Plum Canyon Road, west of Sierra Highway, south of Vasquez Canyon Road and north of the city on Sand Canyon Road, in the unincorporated area of Los Angeles County, according to the city’s report.
A portion (1,925 acres) of the Skyline Ranch development would fall into the annexation, which includes about 2,173 acres for development of more than 1,000 residential units, 17 open space lots, one public park and five recreation lots, among other features.
Under a vesting tentative tract map, about 75 acres for development of more than 400 residential homes on Plum Canyon Road also falls under the annexation.
Mayor Laurene Weste centered her concerns over the open space portion of the acreage.
A total of 248 acres, known as Mystery Mesa, is currently used for filming purposes and would remain in the county upon completion of the Plum Canyon Annexation. Weste said she would like to make sure this area remains as open space and is not converted into more housing units should the county ever cease to operate in the area. Dave Little, who represented Pardee Homes, said yes, “we made that an open space dedication since day one.”
Weste was also concerned about the width of a trail from Sierra Highway to Plum Canyon, saying, “It’s not a money issue, it’s a design issue. This is a big part of what the community uses as amenities. I just want to make sure lands are enjoyable for everyone.” The trail is in design to have a width from 9 to 5 feet, but the city has a 12-foot-wide set standard.
Resident Steve Petzold spoke during public comment about a lack of affordable housing.
In response to these projects, in particular, Leclair said the Plum Canyon project has an affordability component, with 34 units set to be affordable units.
