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Santa Clarita City Council To Vote On Bridgeport Marketplace Plan

BY PERRY SMITH AND LEON WORDEN FOR SCVNEWS.COM
City officials are expected to approve Tuesday night a staff recommendation that calls for a new parking lot and a park in Bridgeport Marketplace, near Real Life Church in Valencia.

 The nearly 26-acre site has been developed into roughly 200,000 square feet of commercial buildings, including restaurants, a market, a drug store, a church, various smaller storefronts and nearly 1,300 parking spaces to serve the diverse uses, according to city documents.

The latest addition to the plan creates a green space, as well as addresses the parking needs of residents, customers and church patrons in the area.

Also included on the original map was an area of approximately five acres on the southwest portion of the site designated for a “future park,” which is where the park and lot will go.

The area has remained rough-graded, but undeveloped to date, mainly due to the impacts of the recession and the existence of three other parks in the direct vicinity of the Marketplace, according to city documents.

The plan received the OK from planning commissioners in December.

In December 2005, plans were approved for the Bridgeport Marketplace, located on the north side of Newhall Ranch Road, east of McBean Parkway.

ORIGINAL STORY by LEON WORDEN FOR SCVNEWS.COM
The Santa Clarita Planning Commission will consider issuing a permit Tuesday for a new 5-acre park in the Bridgeport Marketplace, half of which would be a parking lot for Real Life Church congregants.

A deal has been in the works for more than a year to provide additional parking for the growing church.

In November 2011, on the recommendation of city staff, the Parks Commission voted to change the original plans from 2005 that called for a 5-acre park at the corner of Newhall Ranch Road and Grandview Drive. The land was to be handed over to the city as a condition of approval of both the Bridgeport Marketplace and The Newhall Land and Farming Co.’s River Village project.

The city never took possession of the property because there wasn’t money in the budget to develop and operate it as a park.

Real Life Church approached the city last year and offered to pay to develop the entire 5-acre site, which had already been graded, as long as half of it could become a parking lot. Parks commissioners said OK at their meeting of Nov. 3, 2011.

Plans call for 124 parking spaces on 2.4 acres; the remaining 2.6 acres would be “passive” park land with turf and shade structures – but no play equipment or ball fields because it’s too small.

On Tuesday, the Planning Commission will consider issuing a conditional use permit, which would allow city staff to design and build the park whenever the funds become available.

The city and the church and Bridgeport Marketplace LLC are still hashing out the details of the financing plan, which would require City Council approval.

 

Read more about the project [here].

 


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Santa Clarita City Council To Vote On Bridgeport Marketplace Plan

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About Perry Smith

Perry Smith is a print and broadcast journalist who has won several awards for his focused, hyperlocal community coverage in several different regions of the country. In addition to five years of experience covering the Santa Clarita Valley, Smith, a San Fernando Valley native, has worked in newspapers and news websites in Los Angeles, the Northwest, the Central Valley and the South, before coming to KHTS in 2012. To contact Smith, email him at Perry@hometownstation.com.