They’re at it again. The organized opposition that made headlines and delayed the Henry Mayo Newhall Hostpial expansion project is now using its resources to fight the “mega developmnet” called the Avenue at Santa Clarita, a 37 acre mixed use development planned for a vacant ranch in Newhall.
But this time their concerns aren’t resonating with me. Step inside to find out why.
The Avenue isn’t being touted as a “smart growth” project the way the terrible Las Lomas proposal was, but it nevertheless has some interesting aspects to it that may deserve the title.
For one, the project is highly compact and, as a result, dense. Opponents are quite right to call it a “mini-city” built on a vacant piece of land. I’ll grant that the idea of placing 12 story office and hotel towers in Wiley Canyon is quite shocking, repulsive even. But here at SCVTalk, we like density if it’s done right.
And, on the surface, The Avenue looks like its done right.
Consider the times we live in. Gas is now over $4 a gallon, our resident’s number one complaint is constantly traffic, and most of us have concerns about smog, global warming, and the environment.
On the surface it would appear that The Avenue addresses that and then some. From the admittedly little literature we have on it, The Avenue project promises “high-end office, retail, hotel, entertainment nad residential opportunities in a highly walkable, dynamic urban environment.” Boosters say that The Avenue will feature “pedestriann-focused urban village setting” with “water-themed pedestrian walkway and multi-purpose trails.”
Where will the potentially thousands of people who live in this new community dine, entertain and shop at? Well the project promises thousands of square feet of retail shops, anchor stores, restaurants etc, virtually all of it within that walking distance.
All of this will be built within city boundaries and will supposedly create some 4,000 jobs and provide an estimated $2 million in income to city coffers.
For this, we’re only being asked to give up 37 acres of open space land, land that wouldn’t even make a good park given its proximity to the freeway. This project is so compact that you could almost fit two Avenue projects into the Old Orchard 1 Housing tract.
So what do the opponents say? Their number complaint appears to be that it doesn’t fit into the older Wiley Canyon Neighborhood.It’s essentially a “square peg in a round hole.” They’re singing the same tune they’ve sung with the hospital expansion plan, hoping to equate that business/office situation with a development that will provide homes for people.
I’ll grant that it doesn’t fit. But this isn’t the hospital plan. This development is for people. People who would like a shot at living close to where they work, close to where they shop. This is a community that might attract people who don’t want to be slaves to their cars.
And looking over Santa Clarita, there’s really no place this type of development would fit. Everywhere you look, Santa Clarita is low density, single family homes. This is a model that’s proving to cost everyone more and more each year. It appears that the opponents would be happy with just that; more low density single family homes, more of the same.
If we’re going to make a stab at reducing car trips, reducing pollution, and reducing traffic, then we have to look at projects like this. Density, walkability, ease of transit etc are the only way to address these problems, so I’m not going to oppose a project just because it doesn’t fit. Progress, after all, can be painful but will be rewarding in the end.