News
- Dog Park approved, back-in parking axed: The Santa Clarita City Council approved the creation of a dog park at Central Park without comment Tuesday night. The Signal says that the spot that will be used as an interim dog park is about 1 acre in size. I hope to get more details on this from the city's parks staff. The council also dropped its "experiment" with back-in parking in Newhall after much community opposition. The city will spend some $60,000 to re-paint parking lines, cut ramps into curbs and provide handicapped parking spaces. Signal has a good article, written by the Editor herself, but it's not online yet.
- Council suggests changes to hospital plan: Councilmembers on Tuesday night recommended some specific compromises aimed at making both hospital expansion supporters and opponents happy. Jon Dell at KHTS reports that Councilmembers Boydston and Kellar said the hospital ought to be allowed to construct one medical office building and a parking garaage, but ought to commit to building a new hospital building before it is allowed to continue with other medical office buildings. Councilmember Weste and Mayor McLean had similar thoughts on the matter, with Mayor McLean suggesting that a five story building ought to be reduced to four stories as a compromise. Mayo CEO Roger Seaver spoke during the meeting about the hospital's commitment to the community, showcasing several medical, technological and building projects that are underway. A vote is expected at the January 8, 2008 council meeting.
- SCOPE loses second lawsuit in a week: In another blow for SCOPE, an appelate court ruled that there is sufficient water supplies for the development of 2,300 homes in the West Creek project, which is situated near San Francisquito Canyon Road. Newhall Land is gratified for the court's decision, and SCOPE is considering an appeal to the State supreme court. Not online, but Bossert has a press release which must have come from NL's offices. Link
- Freeway house moved, questions remain: The entertaining saga of a house abandoned on the side of the 101 Freeway is finally coming to an end. Last night, CalTrans moved the house to an "undisclosed location." But, as the Daily News reports, questions remain over owner Patcrick Richardson's plans for the house had it been successfully transported to the SCV. He had applied "to move the home to 25551 Sierra Highway, a lot at the top of a cliff with no road, sewer or power, owned by his fiancee, Kimberly Bigman of Tarzana, Santa Clarita officials said." Richardson will be billed by CalTrans for the removal of the house.
- Freeway chase ends in SCV: The suspects had reportedly robbed a liquor store in Burbank. During the chase, one of the suspects could be seen throwing objects at pursuing officers. The suspects surrendered to the police near Via Princessa on Highway 14. Daily News
- Castaic real estate takes a dive: The California Association of Realtors reports that Castaic led the entire county of Los Angeles in housing price declines over last year. Castaic housing prices fell some 23% to a median price of $465,500. Brief mention of that is made in this Daily Breeze report. Hat tip to Realtor Linda Slocum for first reporting this -and other SCV Prices- last week
- Strangers transplant kidneys: This story fell under the "feel good" banner and made several regional newspapers and shows yesterday and today. Two separate families, one from Santa Clarita and one from Victorville, didn't have much hope for their ailing mother and father, both of whom needed kidney transplants. Each family had hoped to donate one of their own kidneys to their parents, but nobody matched. THat is until doctors at UCLA found that kidneys from the Santa Clarita family could match the Victorville woman's blood type, and vice versa. Daily News
- City wins bicycle designation: I have it on good authority that the City of Santa Clarita will soon be designated as a "Bicycle Friendly Community" by the Washington DC-based League of American Bicyclists. The designation -which lasts four years- recognizes cities that have excelled in educating and encouraging the public about bicycling. I imagine it doesn't hurt that we have some kick-ass trails too, and we're going to host the Amgen Tour again (rah rah). More on this as it is announced.
- Hospital Debate: When is a master plan no longer a master plan? What we see from last night's council meeting is some members of the council reasserting their authority over specific aspects and phases of the plan, rather than just giving carte blanche to Mayo and G&L to proceed as they see fit. I can't imagine that the Councilmember's specific recommendations last night were welcome news to the Hospital/G&L camp. I wonder if they regret pushing this complicated project through under the guise of a master plan? How much easier it would have been to simply request approval for one medical office building at a time over the next five to ten years? It seems pretty clear that the entire plan has backfired on them; by selling it as a massive project they've rallied massive opposition. The jig is up, so to speak.
That's my (naive?) view anyway. I Heart SCV sees it differently:
If I'm reading the prevailing tides correctly, Roger Seaver and G&L are going to get approval of their master plan early next year...The community around the hospital will suffer more than was anticipated as a too-big project is forced into a too-small space."
Be sure to read the rest of his post, he's got a recap from last night's meeting as well. - Bossert targets Boydston with parking dispute letter: West Ranch Town Council president Dave Bossert has an "exclusive" story on a letter sent from a property owner in downtown Newhall to the City Manager on parking dispute involving Councilmember Boydston. The letter states that Boydston "verbally accosted" a man and mentioned several times that he was a City Councilmember. I don't know what to make of the confusing letter or the allegations, and Bossert published it just hours before the City Council meeting saying, "It would seem that the City of Santa Clarita management should be embarrassed by these types of actions and it further hi-lights a need for a code of ethics. Let’s see if this will be glossed over at tonights City Council meeting." Link
- Speaking of the City Manager: Apparently he's out for medical reasons. I have no details, but we wish him the best.
- Fundraiser for Joe Messina, candidate for Hart Board: Kevin Korenthal, conservative GOP blogger and Newhall Redevelopment Committee member, will host a fundraiser for evangelical/businessman/Hart board candidate Joe Messina tomorrow night at the Route 66 Bar/Grill in Canyon Country. Messina's been endorsed by all the local Republican groups in town and has updated his campaign website with a three-point plan for the Hart District.
- Hip-hip!Three cheers for the City's technology/facilities crew who saved the City Council from either shouting at its constituents or postponing the meeting last night. The council chamber's audio system was on the fritz, but staff was able to jury-rig a system into place to get the mics turned on. As an IT guy myself, I know how that must feel.
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