Hasley Hills, Live Oak and North Bluff neighborhoods to start process.

After years of going after resident signatures, the neighborhoods of Hasley Hills, Live Oak and North Bluff received the ok to officially kick off the annexation process to become a part of the City of Santa Clarita.

A portion of the Valencia Commerce Center is also included in the plan.

The unanimous “yes” vote came at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting, and it authorizes the transfer of $35,000 from the Council Contingency Fund to the annexation effort, which would include a fiscal impact study and the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) application.

LAFCO is the state run organization that decides whether or not a designated area can annex into the City. When the City of Santa Clarita originally applied for city-hood 20 years ago, it asked for a large area that included what is now Stevenson Ranch, Westridge and Castaic. LAFCO cut that area down to land in between the I-5 and Highway 14.

A Castaic Town Council member did show up and speak in opposition of the annexation. He said that 1500 signatures shouldn’t determine the fate of all of Castaic, which has a population of 25,000. Because the Commerce Center is included in the plan, if it becomes a part of Santa Clarita, it will not be able to be used as a source of revenue for Castaic if they were to try to form their own city.

The neighborhoods that gathered the 1500 signatures did so after receiving a direction from Santa Clarita. The City will not initiate the annexation process without 60% of resident signatures in favor of the plan. These particular neighborhoods brought a 70% approval rate for their signatures.
[view:node_ad=5]According to the residents’ comments, one of the most important benefits they seek in joining the City is to receive local representation and benefit from SCV planning standard.

Still on the drawing board are the areas of Stevenson Ranch, Westridge, and the rest of Castaic. Those particular towns would add over 30,000 residents to the city should they choose to try and annex into the City. A decision had long been sought, however many years of discussion have yielded little in the way of progress.

Currently, these areas, as well as the neighborhoods up for annexation, are governed by Los Angeles County.