KHTS Radio Santa Clarita Radio – Santa Clarita News
With Centennial Ranch one step closer to final approval, the total number of homes planned near Santa Clarita from six different development projects has reached over 47,000.
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Some say the projects — decades in the making — are the solution to Los Angeles County’s housing crisis, but others say the developments could be detrimental to traffic and the environment.
The Housing Shortage
Several reports have called for more housing in Los Angeles County, specifically affordable housing.
“Development has been one of the biggest issues for Santa Clarita residents for as long as I can remember,” said Mayor Pro Tem Cameron Smyth. “The City Council has always taken housing seriously.”
The California Legislative Office published a report that concluded an estimated 180,000 units per year are needed to be built across the county to meet demand.
“There is housing needed, but it has to be done responsibly,” said Smyth.
In Santa Clarita, the average home price is $565,000 — almost double the national average, according to the Association of Realtors.
The high prices are in part due to supply and demand, with thousands of residents moving to California, but not enough housing to meet the need, according to the study.
“The state is nowhere close to meeting this demand,” said Supervisor Kathryn Barger.
Between 1955 – 1990, there were around 200,000 new homes built annually. In the last 10 years, that number has dropped to around 80,000 homes per year, and the trend continues downward, Barger said.
The number of housing units needed by county / Credit: California Legislative Office
The Impact
Several environmental groups have challenged the planned developments around the Santa Clarita Valley, citing concerns regarding the impact on endangered species, the environment and traffic.
“These developments will pave over thousands of acres of irreplaceable wildlands, clog LA’s already congested freeways and worsen the air pollution burden that our communities suffer,” said J.P. Rose, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity.
The Center, along with the Santa Clarita Organization for Planning and the Environment (SCOPE), filed a lawsuit against Newhall Ranch, which reached the California Supreme Court.
The suit was denied an appeal in federal court in April 2017.
Both Newhall Ranch and the Centennial Project are adjacent to the heavily-congested 5 Freeway, adding an estimated 30,000 cars to the road.
“Although these developments are not in the city limits, they do directly impact Santa Clarita,” said Smyth.
Six Projects, Two Freeways
The six developments lie in the Santa Clarita and Antelope Valleys.
Four of the developments, Centennial, Tesoro Del Valle, North Lake and Newhall Ranch, are near the 5 Freeway, which has seen recent strain due to ongoing construction and heavy traffic over holiday weekends.
The other two projects, Vista Canyon and Skyline Ranch, are near Highway 14.
Housing developments planned near the City of Santa Clarita (Shaded in Red)
Currently, more than 1 million vehicles drive through the I-5 in Santa Clarita from the Newhall Pass, about 200,000 a day, according to Michael Comeaux, spokesperson for Caltrans.
“The I-5 is a ‘backbone’ for the area,” said Comeaux. “Caltrans is working to replace broken down concrete, while Metro expands capacity with the new HOV lane.”
On average in Los Angeles County, there are about two vehicles per household, according to the Census Bureau.
With two projects alone, about 80,000 vehicles could be added to the 5 Freeway.
Traffic studies on the housing developments state the increase in congestion is on par with estimates from the Department of Transportation.
“With more housing, comes more traffic,” said Smyth. “We are working with the County to minimize the impact on our freeways.”
Ed. Note: This story is part one of a two-part series taking an in-depth look at the housing developments planned around Santa Clarita.
Report a typo or error, email Corrections@hometownstation.com
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It’s a lot more than 47,000 homes being built in this valley. We really can’t separate Stevenson Ranch , behind Magic Mountain and up the grapevine and Northlake projects also to include Canyon Country development. There is a city limit for a reason the traffic alone here has gotten so bad then the construction impact, it’s turning into a San Fernando Valley. The wildlife, and yes we have plenty, is being so impacted by this and how people can turn their heads is disturbing to me. SCV can’t solve the housing problem of CA we n Ed to save what is here before it’s gone. I’ve lived out here since 1977 and WOW has it changed. We have serious issues that need attention like the homeless population. I was on Main St at 8:00 and was shocked at the homeless and how unsafe it was. There are many commercial buildings that are empty and we need more homes? I don’t think so. Let’s take care of urgent issues, maintain what we have and spread the housing market to other parts of CA.
You would think that the state would pass a new housing building moratorium until the infrastructure finally caught up with current demand. The problem is that it could take years, if not decades, before enough roads and freeways/highways could be built for the current traffic problem to be finally alleviated. Blame Gerry Brown and his first administration in the 70’s for this problem. He saw the writing on the wall regarding traffic and gridlock, but turned a blind eye to it. Progressives thought that they could force commuters out of their cars by jacking up registration fees and gas taxes, but most people in Cali don’t want to give up their personal vehicles for mass transit. So in the end, money talks, which is why these projects get approved.
Santa Clarita needs to take care of the HOMELESS,
instead of worrying about building more homes.
Santa Clarita is taking care of the initial homeless persons. But the more homeless people hear about it. The more homeless come hear.
How do you advise of taking care of this issue?
Majority of HOMELESS are homeless by choice. No rules, whatever drugs they want(you pay for), welfare deposited straight to the bank, iPhones, no rent, hard to find after they burglarize you and still with ignorant people like you buying them lunch and trying to “save” them. Blindly throwing your money into a pit that is bottomless. The homeless that seek help are not homeless long. Thank You Red Cross for not IGNORANTLY trying to solve a problem!
I agree with “Independent” that most homeless people have no home because of personal choices and lack of responsibility/accountability. L.A. county voters passed a billion dollar plus bond measure to build “homeless housing” to alleviate the issue. The only problem is that most homeless people trash public facilities and neighborhoods in which they currently loiter. Do people who have considerable life experience really believe that homeless people will take care “free housing” once they’re in there? Homeless housing will eventually resemble inner-city projects, if not worse. This “Utopian” solution will be an expensive failure.
I am so dismayed. I moved here because of the green space. I used to be able to cross the valley in 10 minutes, now it takes around 30 and that’s using the ‘connector’ roads.
Qualify of life is deteriorating. Parking is horrible. Going to events is an effort because of crowds, traffic, and parking. I lived here in ‘94 during the eRthquake. It took 4 hours to get to the San Fernando Valley.
I agree with the other comment. Why can’t empty buildings be modified to meet the needs of people /families.
I hope something else can be done. I did not even address the river or impact on wildlife.
I am not looking forward to living here during the construction.
Touchè! I have been here since 1985 and it used to be wonderful! At events I can’t complain about crowds since if they didn’t draw a crowd they wouldn’t succeed. However this “affordable” housing needs to stop! It’s not expensive due to supply in demand… it’s expensive because it used to be a nice area. All of this “affordable housing” and low incom stuff is what is bringing SCV down. I keep saying the only way to qualify for low income housing is by lying or not trying! Why don’t people who are supporting this stuff open their eyes. And BTW you can’t even drive out of Canyon Country at 5:00am anymore because the 14 South is so messed up already by that time.
Touchè! I have been here since 1985 and it used to be wonderful! At events I can’t complain about crowds since if they didn’t draw a crowd they wouldn’t succeed. However this “affordable” housing needs to stop! It’s not expensive due to supply in demand… it’s expensive because it used to be a nice area. All of this “affordable housing” and low incom stuff is what is bringing SCV down. I keep saying the only way to qualify for low income housing is by lying or not trying! Why don’t people who are supporting this stuff open their eyes. And BTW you can’t even drive out of Canyon Country at 5:00am anymore because the 14 South is so messed up already by that time. Of course LA County wants more “affordable” housing here to bring the lowlifes out and they hope for LA City property value to rise while our value plummets..
Nothing new here. We moved into our $27k home in 1973 today same house $400k+. Growth slowed once for a few years but hasn’t stopped since.
If we would deport all of the illegals in the County it would free up some housing.
Great idea.
Please start packing now!
How can we deport them when so many ignorant people VOTE to save even the ones that commit worse crimes AFTER committing the crime of crossing the border without passing through CUSTOMS which is there for a reason…. WAKE UP AMERICA! Stop believing politicians and make up your own mind.
Got to love the racists that live in Santa Clarita. There’s a lot of them.
Just because you believe in the rule of law and don’t agree with “open borders” doesn’t mean that you’re “racist”. Illegals, or “undocumented immigrants”, come from all areas. That would include Mexico, Central/South America, Asia, Europe, and Africa. The overwhelming majority of immigrants from past generations came to the US legally through Ellis Island on the East Coast or Angel Island via the West Coast. Those individuals were vetted to ensure that they had viable job skills, a sponsor, employment prospects, money on hand, no criminal record, and no contagious diseases.
Most of today’s immigrants are NOT vetted. Many have contagious diseases (many of which had been wiped out in the US), many have criminal records, and most of them have no “sponsors”, no solid job prospects, and no valuable job skills that we lack in the US (uneducated/unskilled labor).
With that said, I don’t believe that most immigrants are “criminals”. I’ve been to many parts of Mexico and know that most Mexicans and Hispanics from other countries are honest, hard working people. Yet most of them are also poor and end up on the “public dole” once they enter this country illegally, taking money from other programs and increasing our taxes.
To ignorantly label anyone that doesn’t agree with open borders and illegal immigration “racist” is indeed narrow-minded and myopic. Try overstaying your tourist Visa in the EU and see what happens. Or “move” to Canada without the proper paperwork and disregard their laws like many illegals do once they’re in the US. Sanctuary cities prioritize illegal aliens over citizens.
I moved to Santa Clarita in 1985 it was gorgeous rilling Hills the streets were not clogged its becoming a real shithole! How the hell is city counsel letting this happen? We are stack and packs as it is! Crime is getting worse and what the hell happens with these houses when all these illegals are rounded up? Shame shameshamd on SC cityyou are responsible for turning this once beautiful place into a mini Mexico City crime drugs and all!
You are a very small minded person with no class
You are spot on Misty. Since Newsom is now the governor there is no hope for California. More people rushing to get out of this state. Lucky to have any money left out of your pay when he gets through.
Sorry but I’m just shrugging my shoulders and thinking snide remarks….are you kidding me?? The impact of this project is not ‘news’. The developers have been in negotiations for years because of concerns with an environmental impact. Guess the developers won out after all was said and done. This article is a bit late, ya? Most people have not given a thought about the additional tens of thousands of vehicles that will be added to our already crammed freeways but that is not the only impact folks. Now, does ANYONE need to question why our water rates have skyrocketed?? Remember friends, we had years of water rationing due to the drought . We were told there wasn’t enough water for everyone here. This is about the time this housing project was (finally) approved and residents starting questioning how it is that tens of thousands homes could be approved (and water supplied when there wasn’t enough to go around). But then we received a letter stating that “oops, we redid the numbers and (magically) we now have enough water to go around, even for all those new homes”. But then we did such a good job rationing water usage, that the water company decided to raise our water rates to make up for their lost inventory because we conserved too well. Guess the bottom line is that we’re screwed. Money talks. Residents? Go take a walk! (because you won’t get far with a car, that’s for sure)
Well Said!
Yes! Finally someone I agree with! Politicians putting any money in their pockets on this deal? Possibly politicians that don’t even LIVE in SCV and could care less what impact it has? People voting on things they don’t (and haven’t tried) to understand simply because someone in their political party told them it was a good idea? I’ll say it again.. WAKE UP AMERICA!
With all these homes being built, with the excuse that these homes will alleviate a lack of homes, the truth is that 1) Mortgage rates are climbing, 2) Traffic and water will be impacted big time, 3) affordability of homes are dwindling, 4) Schools will be impacted big time,
and last but not least, 5) The county wants these homes because they produce TAX MONEY. That is the bottom line.
One could selfishly blame the popularity of Six Flags for this major attraction to Santa Clarita. It saves owning a pool when you can have a huge water park in your neighborhood. That 5 freeway is already a mess. They need to expand the 5 freeway in that area.
Yes! Finally someone I agree with! Politicians putting any money in their pockets on this deal? Possibly politicians that don’t even LIVE in SCV and could care less what impact it has? People voting on things they don’t (and haven’t tried) to understand simply because someone in their political party told them it was a good idea? I’ll say it again.. WAKE UP AMERICA!
I am at a loss for words to describe how disgusted reading this article made me. The LA County Board of Supervisors clearly do not care about quality of life in & around LA County, it is sickening and what’s the solution to stopping this madness of overbuilding in and around Santa Clarita??? Santa Clarita used to be a great and beautiful place to live sad to see it all destroyed and covered in houses. #TimeToGo
Erika,
Where are you going to go? I bet the people that live there also don’t want more people moving into their town. The City of Santa Clarita has been growing like all towns in the state of California since the 1850’s. Because of our weather and economy can’t stop housing, you need it for all the people moving here.
But I agree with your #Time to Go. The more people that leave the better for me.
More homes??? Come on, Santa Clarita! Stop building some many homes! We are already very crowded and traffic is really bad. Now 47,000 more families are planning on moving into our city only take up more of what’s ours? If this city wants to build more houses, at least build bigger homes with more space. I’m tired of all these small crowed homes that are constructed so close together. If bigger homes were being built, maybe then we could attract more wealthy people willing to invest into our city and make it better. Build homes with lots of space apart from each other, and that have actual driveways so we can get some decent parking around here. Has anyone every tried getting some parking down in a Newhall neighborhood? It’s a nightmare! Build bigger homes or don’t build any of these compacted homes like in Canyon Country and Plum Canyon. I’m tired of those tiny houses being built. If this doesn’t stop I think I’ll consider moving to the Thousand Oaks/ Oak Park area. I go there plenty of times and they don’t really have a traffic problem and they have more space between the homes. I love Santa Clarita, I lived here all my life, but somethings are really upsetting me with this city, like all the new homes being built, the drugs, the increase in migrants moving in and lowering the quality and value of our homes (just look at the Newhall and Canyon Country neighborhoods—litter and graffiti everywhere! I know this because I live in Newhall!), gangs (mainly Hispanic migrants as well), and above all the traffic! Come on Santa Clarita stop with building so many more houses and focus on the traffic. I think almost everyone can agree here that we are more concerned about traffic than any other issue. Please listen to the residents, Santa Clarita!
The real issue Carlos is the fact that the city of Santa Clarita has little input and no final say regarding most of these huge housing projects, most of which are outside SC city limits. Stevenson Ranch is outside SC limits, as well at the new Centennial and Newhall Ranch projects. The blame lies with the L.A. County board of Supervisors, who approve these projects, not Santa Clarita City Hall or the mayor. To be fair, most of these developments have been in the planning stages for years, if not decades. So is it really surprising?!
The developers always, always win. It’s a given. Why? It must have to do with affluent taxes and fees=$$$$. Follow the money.
Regardless- apparently we don’t have enough water, electric or natural gas to support the people who live here now- from where is it going to materialize? All of a sudden we have enough of these to support all of these new developments-Amazing slight of hand!!
Follow the money Santa Clarita! Look at what your party told you to vote for without reading you the fine print out loud…
How do we stop this? The traffic is already insane here. I moved here in the 90’s for a peaceful small city, now it’s turning into downtown LA. I’m starting to hate it here.
You can begin with READING what you are voting on and not listening to politicians.
So glad we moved out of Santa Clarita and out of California. The quality of life, traffic, crime – not where we wanted to raise our kids. Lived in SCV since the 1970’s. Glad to be gone!
The city of Santa Clarita is 100% behind these developments. Don’t believe what they say, after all why did they build and recently expand “Newhall Ranch Road”.
The real issue Warren is the fact that the city of Santa Clarita has little input and no final say regarding most of these huge housing projects, most of which are outside SC city limits. Stevenson Ranch is outside SC limits, as well at the new Centennial and Newhall Ranch projects. The blame lies with the L.A. County board of Supervisors, who approve these projects, not Santa Clarita City Hall or the mayor. To be fair, most of these developments have been in the planning stages for years, if not decades. So is it really surprising?!
Again, most of the approved recent “mega housing developments” are outside city limits, so the city of Santa Clarita can’t legally do anything to stop it given that L.A. County approved the projects. Most people assume that Stevenson Ranch and Westridge are in the city of Santa Clarita, but they are not in city limits.
“Although these developments are not in the city limits, they do directly impact Santa Clarita,” said Smyth.
This is just ridiculous….the last thing our city needs is more housing projects! We moved here in 1985, young newlyweds, before SC became a ‘city’. It has progressively gotten over crowded, no longer in the top 5 safest cities in the country, crime has increased and has basically become another SFV or LA. When our city is making this happen, how do we stop it? I miss the beautiful hillsides, open land and the small town feel of SC.
Take the money from the so called bullet train and construct another I-5 not maybe Templin Highway route? 24 seven until it’s complete. Has the United States provided the manufacturer for the train. It is my understanding that the train has to be produced in the USA.
Another I-5 would either require a tunnel through the mountains or a second level placed on top of the original. You are better off building a second DOWNTOWN LA in Palmdale. #LOL #JustSayin
Centennial? East of Gorman on 138? SCV has nothing to worry about. It is so cold and windy up there, the only people moving up there will be a bunch of poor children who are not even born yet.
I was born in 54, moved to SCV (Newhall) from the hospital, LoL! The traffic is a non starter because it will all be autonomous by then.
You people are worried about things that won’t significantly effect your kids kids…good grief…
How about crime ‘54? Us “people” what do u mean by that? Some people just don’t understand how the world works or rather is working for humans. When we didn’t have much crime 20 years ago the other day a guy got shot less than 1/2 a mile from my house for his backpack. More and more thieves every day. Not to mention I have to leave 45 minutes early for appointments 10 miles away when 20 years ago I would’ve made the trip in 10-15 minutes. Please keep your ignorance to yourself.
I find it amazing how everyone on this comment section came here FROM SOMEPLACE ELSE and THEN said… we don’t want any more people, or traffic and we don’t want to see any more hills cut down. Well my friends, they cut down hills to make the home you live in, I promise you that. Someone else used to look at your hills and think how beautiful they were before they were cut down for YOUR house.
You ALL need to accept the fact that Santa Clarita is growing and it will be the next San Fernando Valley within 30 years. The upside is, it is organized growth and built with the environment in mind as much as possible. “They” have said for as long as I can remember, “we don’t have enough…xxx…” fill in the blank, but somehow we always manage to get by.
If you don’t accept that or like what is going on… MOVE. I have been a Santa Clarita resident since 1966. Sure, I would have liked for it to stay small and rural, but it just isn’t reality. I like it here, even with the traffic and the growth. I’m staying!
Wendy,
Very well said. People will always need a place to live. Your children, grandchildren etc.. Growth is inevitable. Government is always slow to react. Nothing new here. I think all these people complaining should move to Alaska, there is plenty of space there.
First of all, I don’t I destined this “need” or “shortage” with land, housing, taxes and funereal cost living double what it is elsewhere- who in the hell
Is moving here in droves that NEED new housing??I call BS. who’s doing theee “studies” the same research companies that are hired by developers, that’s who. And please people, stop blaming this lack of housing on “illegals”. They don’t even have a pot to piss in let alone buying homes out here so shove that BS Trumpism where the sun don’t shine. The people who reside here can’t even afford housing. According to Aug 8 2018 article by CAR, affordability is at a 10 year low… Only 26% of the people that live here can afford to buy a home so don’t tell me there are droves of people from out of state with lower income levels knocking down the door to buy homes out here. And last time I checked, I didn’t see any Caucasian legal citizens standing outside Home Depot looking for work.
Ok….it is going to take everyone of us that cares showing up to every city council meeting in hoards to say “Stop building!!!!” Who’s with me?! I’ve written letters and am so frustrated!!!!!!
The homeless and illegals here are a joke pretty soon this will be just like the san fernando valley
“You ALL need to accept the fact that Santa Clarita is growing and it will be the next San Fernando Valley within 30 years.”.
In reality Wendy, the SC Valley has ALREADY become a reflection of the SF Valley. The east side of the SC Valley is starting to resemble the northeast areas of the SF Valley. So now we have the “good” area of the SC valley and the “bad” (or “not so good”) area of the SC Valley. I’m sure that most people who live here would agree that the further west (and north) you go in the city, the better the neighborhoods. Canyon Country has gone downhill over the past couple decades and it will only get worse, especially with rentals.
Who are they kidding its all about the County Supervisors and their cronies in Real Estate making money. A housing shortage.. .yes for low income and we don’t need low income in Santa Clarita Valley. They did that to Palmdale and it turned into gang central. Most of us bought out here to get away from the slums in the valley I feel for those who can’t afford our homes but…. like me they can work at it and get one took me 30 years and I don’t want to see my dream turned into another failed California liberal socialist experiment. On top of that all the stats show more people moving OUT of California than moving in for the last 15 years. I am a resident of Nevada originally and can tell you the number of Cali types that have moved in is tremendous and unfortunately has not been good for the state. They are mostly retirees who demand services that our state can’t afford to pay. California needs to stop building, fix its infrastructure, broken political systems and come to grips with the fact that it is not the State or Counties job to insure everyone has a nice middle class life, thats done by the individuals own work and responsibility.
Im moving to so.cal when I retire! You people don’t realize what you have here (great weather most of the time)!!! when you move to other parts of country, you have hot humid sweat your butt days, freezing constantly,blizzards, tornadoes, hurricanes, mosquito infested areas, crazy hailstorms.