The Master’s University faced tough questioning Tuesday from Santa Clarita City Council members before the council voted 2-2 on a request to authorize bonds, which would help it finance $65 million in capital improvements projects for its campus expansion.
The city would not have accepted any liability from the bonds had the City Council approved the request — which required three affirmative votes — but Councilwomen Patsy Ayala and Marsha McLean said they had too many questions about the college’s plans.
Councilwoman Laurene Weste has property next to the campus, prompting her recusal. Mayor Bill Miranda and Councilman Jason Gibbs voted yes.
“The city would be facilitating through this, their ability to go back and refinance the debt — so, I have a problem with that,” McLean said. “I have a problem with the perception that we would be saying, ‘Oh it’s OK to go ahead and do that’ … when they don’t seem to stick to what they promised the residents.”
She also didn’t like the idea of the bonds being used to purchase an off-campus apartment building off 8th Street for more student housing.
TMU officials have been working on a revised master plan for a campus expansion in conjunction with its centennial in 2027, according to documents obtained by The Signal through Public Records Act requests.
But after receiving community buy-in from its previous master plan, which is more than 15 years old, college officials began to receive pushback from the community at Santa Clarita City Council meetings and meetings with local homeowners through the Placerita Canyon Property Owners Association.
A handful of Placerita Canyon residents made comments complaining the university has been radio silent about its plans since finding out there was opposition.
Ayala asked John Russell, financial controller at The Master’s University and Seminary, why there wasn’t more outreach done in response to concerns from TMU’s neighbors.
Russell, TMU’s lone representative at the meeting, said he was involved in the funding of the project and could not speak to any prior outreach.
One of the gripes repeated by residents involved TMU’s conversion of the neighborhood’s single-family homes into student dorms through high-occupancy residential permits. The refinancing of that debt was approximately $21 million of the request, according to city records.
In addition to the homes, approximately $7.2 million is being spent to refinance the costs to purchase, improve and equip an apartment complex located at 22710 8th St., and approximately $10 million to finance the acquisition, improvement and equipping of one or more apartment complexes nearby. Another $13 million to finance or refinance the acquisition, construction, improvement, renovation and equipping of certain educational facilities and amenities including capital improvements and expenditures to academic, student support, and related facilities on the TMU main campus generally located at 21726 Placerita Canyon Road.
The property owners complained about how the university’s purchases were changing the neighborhood in a number of ways, including claims they were being used as rental properties during the summer.
“The short-term rentals were a real problem, especially over the Fourth of July, because we are a fire-prone, tinder-box canyon, and we had people coming in from all areas with fireworks, not having any idea of just how flammable California is, and particularly Placerita Canyon,” said Teresa Todd, president of the property owners group, calling TMU’s request premature.
She also said there was a genuine lack of communication, despite several attempts by the nearby property owners to see if there were any points where TMU and its neighbors could come to agreement.
City officials also stated during their discussion that while they could ask TMU for what it planned to do with its bond money, the city would have no mechanism to hold TMU to its stated intent, which included the purchase of an off-site apartment building.
The city would not be able to stop the university from buying additional homes with the money, which was a concern that TMU’s neighbors had.
Gibbs said if TMU’s lack of community outreach continues, he would have a hard time supporting the university’s planned request to the City Council for a revision of its campus master plan.
TMU did not issue a response at the meeting, but Mason Nesbitt, a spokesman for TMU, emailed a statement Wednesday that indicated the university was grateful for its “ongoing conversations with neighbors” regarding student housing activity in the canyon.
“In fall 2024, our student life team launched a Good Neighbor Program, educating students on Placerita Canyon’s rich history, sending gifts to neighbors at Thanksgiving and setting clear expectations for living in canyon housing,” according to the statement. “We provided neighbors with the standards we hold our students to and encouraged them to contact us with concerns.”
The statement did not address any specifics of the plan, only noting that a master plan has been submitted, and is going through the city’s planning process.
“The master plan revision process includes opportunities for public review and comment,” he wrote, “transparency we welcome through established city processes.”
