The Centennial Project, a development expected to add over 19,000 homes north of Castaic, is one step closer after county planners approved the development this week.

Los Angeles County Regional Planning Commission voted Wednesday, to move forward with a 12,000 acre housing development in Tejon Ranch, off the 5 Freeway and near Highway 138.

Commissioners Doug Smith, David Louie, Elvin Moon and Pat Modugno voted 4-1 in favor of the Board of Supervisors certifying the project’s environmental impact report, with Commissioner Laura Shell as the only vote against.

The proposed housing project is approximately 35 miles north of Santa Clarita and one mile east of Interstate 5, along Highway 138, according to L.A. County documents.

Developers plan to build the project on the private property of Tejon Ranch, which is comprised of 270,000 acres near Interstate 5 about halfway between Los Angeles and Bakersfield.

The Centennial Project will include not only homes, but parks, schools, and a sheriff’s department – a small city unto itself, according to the developers.

The development is expected to bring about 19,333 homes on about 4,987 acres set aside for residential uses, according to county officials.

County planners asked Tejon Ranch to raise the amount of affordable housing to 15 percent of the total units, up from 10 percent, said Mitch Glaser spokesperson for the Regional Planning Commission,

The project is designed to be a sustainable community – a community that conserves water and energy, maximizes open space, de-emphasizes the automobile, and encourages walking and biking with extensive parks, greenbelts and hiking trails, said company officials.

Commissioners also asked for zero-emission vehicles for commuter transit and prioritizing trash disposal sites east or north of the project, where population demands are heavier, Glaser said.

The proposed development would sit on Tejon Ranch — a 270,000-acre private property near the top of the Grapevine.

In 1999, the ranch began planning three new developments on the land, including Centennial. Ten years ago, the company reached an agreement with environmental groups to conserve 90 percent of the property — 240,000 acres.

The Centennial Project is now set to move to the Los Angeles County Board Of Supervisors for final consideration in late 2018 or 2019.

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