The City of Santa Clarita has doubled its bid to bring a new courthouse to the area. In March the City Council committed a 3.5 acre land donation for the purposes of a new courthouse, however Tuesday, the Council amended the donation to include 3.5 additional acres for the legal center.

The City hopes to bring a new courthouse to the location, situated off of Golden Valley Road, and City staff has already begun pursuing a new Santa Clarita Judicial District.

By donating 7 acres for a courthouse, the City hopes to increase their chances of having the site selected by the Administrative Office of the Courts’, which is responsible for planning new courthouses in California.

Separately, the City used Tuesday night’s meeting to approve the purchase of 140 acres in Placerita Canyon to preserve as open space. The property purchase price is estimated at $2,511,300, although City staff is allowed to spend up to $2,575,000 for the property if needed.

1.5 acres of the land is contaminated due to its previous use in an industrial capacity, however the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) claims that no cleanup is necessary, so long as the property is used as open space. In this case, the toxins on the portion of land are not expected to harm local water supplies.

$736,351 of the funding for the purchase comes from the Open Space Preservation District, an assessment passed by voters in 2007. The rest of the money will come from a mixture of developer contribution ($800,000), Los Angeles County Prop A funding ($250,000) and Environmental Mitigation Land Acquisition ($725,000).

In other Council news…

Santa Clarita honored College of the Canyons Chancellor Dr. Dianne Van Hook, who was recently declared the 2009 Woman of the Year by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.

Joe Caso, owner of Frontier Toyota accepted City honors on behalf of his local dealership, which supported the White Ribbon Drive Safe Campaign May 28-June 5.

A city-wide proclamation was declared for the 2009 Western States Police and Fire Games, which will take place in and around Santa Clarita June 13-20.