With the promise of the creation of thousands of jobs, more than 1,500 homes and millions spent on roads and trails in the area, the L.A. County Board of Supervisors approved the extension of Five Point’s Valencia plans.
The plans comprised two phases: Entrada South, which is west of The Old Road on both sides of Magic Mountain Parkway; and the Valencia Commerce Center’s expansion west of Interstate 5 and The Old Road, north of State Route 126, and east of Commerce Center Drive and the Chiquita Canyon Landfill.
Nearly 60 residents spoke out on the project, with 47 in favor of the project and 12 speaking in opposition. L.A. County 5th District Supervisor Kathryn Barger said she was committed to finishing the hearing in an hour, putting a one-minute limit on commenters due to the number of people.
The support for the project focused on the jobs that would be created and the addition of new homes, hundreds of which would be affordable, according to county planners.
Those who made the trek to Downtown Los Angeles in opposition shared concerns about the traffic impacts, the fire risk and the potential for construction to worsen environmental impacts, such as the risks of Valley Fever, which also were cited by labor unions upset the project contained no wage commitments for their workers.
Alex Herrell, director of community development for Five Point, said the plans called for a buildout of something that started six decades ago.
“This project continues the Valencia vision our company created in the 1960s, which has provided homes for generations of families and supported thousands of quality jobs, helping make it a cornerstone of the third largest economy in the county,” he told supervisors. “The Valencia Commerce Center adds 3.4 million square feet, expected to create 10,000 jobs. The plan extends hallmark sustainability features and amenities, including preserved open space, public parks, recreation facilities and an integrated trail network.”
The concerns centered around the project’s impacts to the area’s undeveloped environment and how traffic and pollution impacts will increase.
“I want to make sure you understand you’re building everything in the floodplain, which is hurting our river and our water supply when you do that,” said Lynne Plambeck, president of the Santa Clarita Organization for Planning and the Environment. She also raised concerns about the lack of any end date on the approvals since there have been significant delays. She said both factors could affect the available water supply for the project.
“I have listened to the developer talk about the housing and how great it is to create housing, but I feel like no one’s talking about the almost 3.5 million square feet of industrial that is in this project,” said local resident Kaitlyn Luna.
“`Housing is great and I support new homes, but that amount of warehouse and industrial space is crazy,” she said.
Several unions also expressed concerns that there was no commitment to wage standards on the project, or union labor. The developer said such a commitment would add more than $90,000 to the cost of each home.
Kevin Tamaki, a Valencia resident, said he purchased a Newhall Land home built in 1968, “and that community is still going very strong,” he said. “What Five Point and Newhall Land and Farming did, so many years ago, was really create a platform for building community. And I think that will happen here with this particular plan. It will really build community.”
Marjorie Cao, a Valencia Five Point resident who made the trip in support of the project, also shared the sense of community she feels in the neighborhood where her family recently settled. “People know and care about it here and they demonstrate it in meaningful ways,” she said, mentioning the support she’s received for her small business and the way neighbors get together at the weekly farmers market.
The housing benefits extended beyond market-rate homes, according to the planners who recommended approval.
Planners said the property was zoned prior to the county’s inclusionary housing ordinance, so there was no obligation for affordable housing, but one was negotiated with Five Point.
The project calls for 12% of the homes to be within 135% of the area’s median income, which is what’s called for in the county’s inclusionary housing ordinance. Seven percent of those will be on site, and they will be rental housing, or 110 units.
“What that does is it provides an opportunity in the Santa Clarita Valley for much-needed rental housing, which we don’t really have,” said Amy Bodek, the county’s director of regional planning.
The 5% off-site were part of a property Five Point owns off Lake Hughes Road, according to Barger, who also asked about the new firehouse being built to support the project, which is Fire Staton 46. That’s planned for land that’s already been graded just west of the project, where construction is slated to begin in January or February, according to Assistant Fire Chief Pat Sprengel.
Barger said approving more homes is the best tool at the county’s disposal in order to solve the shortage.
“Increasing housing supply is one of the key approaches to help address the county’s ongoing housing shortage, something that I think this board collectively recognizes has been an issue,” she said in her comments. “We need to continue to do more to address affordability, but one of the most powerful solutions at hand is to build additional housing stock to keep up with the demand.”
As part of this housing mix, the developer will add at least 78 more affordable units off-site for households earning up to 65% of the area’s median income, which is approximately $69,300 for a four-person household in the Santa Clarita Valley.
