The Newhall School District governing board at last week’s meeting reviewed a presentation on housing developments within the district’s attendance boundaries.
The presentation was an informational item, wrote Superintendent Leticia Hernandez in an emailed statement. She wrote there was not much discussion after the presentation by the board members.
According to the meeting agenda, Steven Gald, executive vice president of California Financial Services, presented to the board.
The presentation discussed how the district’s most recent student population forecast identified 10 active projects. FivePoint Valencia is estimated to build a total of 731 units within the district, with 412 of those units designated to be multi-family attached units, over the next seven years.
“The units are expected to yield as many as 300 students over this period,” read the presentation.
According to the presentation, when the units are added to the existing homes, this additional development might enact “Operation Trigger,” when a school needs to be built within the development because of the increasing student population.
Other future housing developments the presentation notes are Lyons Canyon development, Sunridge development, and an unnamed development at Railroad Avenue and Wiley Canyon Road.
The presentation states that as many as 7,398 units would be generated from these developments that could bring an estimated 2,800 students.
A previous Signal article reported the Trails at Lyons Canyon development, at The Old Road and Lyons Ranch, is planned to be 510 homes, a mix of two- and three-story attached and detached condominium units and a four-story affordable senior rental apartment building.
According to the presentation, the project is in review with a Planning Commission hearing expected in quarter three of this year.
The Sunridge development is located south of Soledad Canyon Road, east of Railroad Avenue and west of Golden Valley Road, and is planned to have about 6,500 residential units and include a championship youth sports facility on adjacent city property; a community center on the adjacent city property; and open space dedications, including new trails, a previous Signal article reports.
The development is still in its early stages of planning and has not been finalized.
Both the Lyons Canyon development and Sunridge development are planned by New Urban West.
“We look forward to working with the Newhall School District on our mitigation agreements to continue to support local schools with the resources to help prepare our youth with a strong education,” Adam Browning, CEO and president of New Urban West, wrote in a prepared statement shared by John Musella, spokesman for the project.
The school district is expecting that the unnamed development to be located at Railroad Avenue and Wiley Canyon Road will add 388 single-family units, according to the presentation.
Jason Crawford, community development director for the city of Santa Clarita, confirmed the land was previously a part of the former Shadowbox project, but it currently does not have a plan attached to the property.
For possible next steps, the presentation reads that staff and consultants are recommended to prepare an analysis to determine and project when the “Operation Trigger” for the construction of the first school in FivePoint Valencia will be met.
It also recommends district staff to engage with New Urban West developers with the goal of resolving their request to modify the mitigation agreement on Lyons Canyon and exploring a possible memorandum of understanding regarding future mitigation for the Sunridge project.
The presentation also recommends staff and consultants engage with owners of Railroad Avenue and Wiley Canyon Road development to determine an acceptable level of premium for a potential joint community facilities agreement.
Hernandez added in her emailed statement that district staff meet with FivePoint Valencia regularly. If the staff has anything to report, it will be reported to the board at a future date.
