Charrette – Day 2

September 26, 2006

 

 

The good news: Landscaping and road design seems to be more on point than the other presentations. They plan to use permeable substances to increase percolation of water as opposed to allow it to run off the property. Native vegetation will be used to a great extent. City ordinances and state laws prohibit water flowing off property without treatment so there will be some sort of holding and treatment basis. Santa Clarita also has an ordinance that there can be “no adverse impact” on water flow either upstream or downstream. That’s good – to the extent that it is implemented. Also good news: FEMA will be an agency involved in the EIR process.

 

The bad news: So far, the presentations seem mostly like a school exercise. We still have no projections on specific business/housing mix, or on density, or on daily vehicle trips.

  • There is talk of putting a school in the Redevelopment area – right beside the proposed hotel! 
  • The 13th Street railroad crossing will be closed down and there will be a roundabout where Dockweiler meets the Placerita exit; that flow then crosses the railroad tracks to meet Lyons. But there is no traffic study estimating how many daily vehicle trips there are likely to be through the roundabout.
  • The possibility was raised of a Spaghetti Factory being located on the site. That’s a tremendously high volume operation. What does that do to the traffic flow?
  • More than a year ago, I spoke to the manager of the motorcycle shop. He indicated they were moving as soon as their lease was up because many customers were indicating the shop was too difficult to reach. What is the likelihood of a new business’ success if the entry is even more impacted?

 

Valerie Thomas

Board Member

PCPOA