Commission to Weigh Old Town Newhall Plan

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Commission to Weigh Old Town Newhall Plan
• Planners to take likely last look revised blueprint before sending it to the City Council.

By Josh Premako
Signal Staff Writer

Monday, August 29, 2005

he city Planning Commission is expected to sign off on the much-touted Newhall redevelopment plan this week, sending it to the City Council.
    At Tuesday's meeting, the Santa Clarita Planning Commission will receive its latest — and likely last — update on the draft Downtown Newhall Specific Plan that has been in development over the past year.
    The plan proposes to transform the tired community into "a thriving, mixed-use, pedestrian-oriented urban village." The plan was prepared by design consultants Moule and Polyzoides, who have been contracted by the city. The firm has been involved in the revitalization of Pasadena's Old Town area and Santa Monica's Third Street Promenade.
    At Tuesday's meeting — the commission's first after a several-week summer hiatus — city staff will present any recent changes to the specific plan and receive comment from the Planning Commission and public.
    If the commission approves the plan, it will move to the City Council's agenda for consideration and discussion.
    The plan has been met with mixed reviews. While a number of city employees and residents expect it to rejuvenate one of the area's oldest communities and draw business from outside the valley, some Newhall residents and business owners fear it will drive up property values and force them to move elsewhere.
    At a July town meeting, numerous residents of East Newhall expressed concerns that the city will use eminent domain to force them out of the predominantly low-income, working-class neighborhood. The city has repeatedly stressed there are no plans to utilize eminent domain.
    "The city is not interested in going out ... and acquiring parcel after parcel (of land)," said Planning Director Paul Brotzman.
    Business and property owners in the downtown Newhall area have voiced opposition to a proposed mercado, or open-air market area taking up several blocks of real estate. Rather than sell their property to make way for a market, they have said they would rather be able to improve upon their current properties.
    Senior Planner Jason Smisko has said the mercado is a desired, but not necessary part of the specific plan and may be edited out.