The Santa Clarita City Council returns to the dais Tuesday after its summer hiatus, with topics continuing from where council members left off, and new items, such as proposed traffic changes to a Valencia neighborhood.
No stopping zones
Residents and passersby of Summit Place in Valencia could soon notice new traffic changes as the City Council plan to look into establishing no stopping zones along the north and south sides of the street. The zones would be placed on Summit Place between Rockwell Canyon Road and West Del Monte Drive/West Arroyo Park during the hours of midnight and 4 a.m.
The proposal stems from the Valencia Summit Homeowners Association board of directors, which notified the city about concerns from residents regarding overnight parking and “an increase in public activities that are creating neighborhood disturbances in the late evenings and impacting their sense of security,” according to staff reports. Valencia Summit is walking distance from College of the Canyons and California Institute of the Arts.
Inclusive play area
After approval of what will be Santa Clarita’s first inclusive playground in February, council members will look into approving a contract authority increase of $123,800 for enhancements to the design and construction of the play area at Canyon Country Park.
Based on public input, features added to the design of the playground include site lighting, a drinking fountain and more shade structures, which increased the cost to a total of $1.23 million, according to staff reports.
Jobs Creation Overlay Zone
With a 14-item agenda ahead of them, council members will also look into second reading and adoption of the Jobs Creation Overlay Zone, which aims to streamline the current permit process for qualifying projects within targeted business parks and allow for increased building height without a conditional use permit.
The matter was last discussed on July 9, when the City Council voted 4-1 to move the item for a second reading after hearing from several Santa Clarita Valley business leaders who urged the council to allow building heights to rise from the suggested five to six stories. Under the ordinance that the City Council will consider adopting, construction of office structures between three and five stories in height shall be permitted without obtaining a conditional use permit and additional height will need an approved permit.
High-speed internet improvement
Another item local businesses can benefit from is the City Council’s recent approval for more than $217,000 for Santa Clarita to lease two dark fiber strands from its network to downtown Los Angeles, which would offer access to a wider range of high-speed internet service providers to the area.
The June action approved the physical connection from Santa Clarita to L.A. If approved Tuesday, the process would move to the next step by allowing the purchase of fiber electronics hardware, “necessary to ‘light’ and manage the connection,” according to the staff report. The total contract amount for hardware, services and three-year support totals $107,664.
