West Creek Tesoro Initial Study

INITIAL STUDYCITY OF SANTA CLARITAProject Title/Master Case Number:

West Creek/Tesoro Del Valle Annexation – Master Case10-048, Prezone 10-001, General Plan Amendment 10-001, Annexation 10-001, Sphere of InfluenceAmendment 10-001

Lead Agency name and address:

City of Santa Clarita23920 Valencia Blvd., Suite 300Santa Clarita, CA 91355

Contact person and phone number:

James ChowAssociate Planner (661) 255-4330

Project location:

The project area generally known as West Creek, WestHills, Copperstone, and Tesoro Del Valle, is generallylocated east of the Lockheed Industrial Park, west of SanFrancisquito Creek, and north of the North Valencia 2Specific Plan area, along the northerly boundary of theCity of Santa Clarita, in the unincorporated area of theCounty of Los Angeles.The proposed project area can also be located on pages4460 and 4279 of the 2010 Thomas Guide – LosAngeles County Street Guide. The proposed projectarea is also shown on Figure 1, as provided below.

Applicant’s name and address:

City of Santa Clarita, Planning Division23920 Valencia Boulevard, Suite 300Santa Clarita, CA 91355

General Plan designation:

RE (Residential Estate); RL (Residential Low);RS (Residential Suburban); CN (Commercial Neighborhood); CC (Community Commercial);BP (Business Park)

Zoning:

Existing County of Los Angeles zoning for the projectarea includes:OS (Open Space);A-2-2 (Heavy Agriculture, 2-acre minimum lot size);RPD (Residential Planned Development)R-3 (Multi-Family Residential)C-2 (Neighborhood Commercial)

Initial StudyMaster Case 10-048ANX 10-001, PRZ 10-001,GPA 10-001, SOI 07-001Page 2 of 46

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Description of project and setting:

This initial study was prepared pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) for a Sphere of Influence Amendment, General Plan Amendment (GPA), Prezone (PRZ), andAnnexation (ANX) for the West Creek, West Hills, and Tesoro Del Valle communities. The Cityof Santa Clarita proposes the annexation of approximately 2,831 acres of land along the northern boundary of the City of Santa Clarita, north of the North Valencia 2 Specific Plan area. Pursuantto Section 56758 of the Government Code, this area must be consistent with the City’s adoptedSphere of Influence. Therefore a Sphere of Influence Amendment (SOIA) is also proposed as a part of this project for approximately 2,111 acres of land that is not within the City’s Sphere of Influence.Setting:The proposed project consists of approximately 2,831 acres of partially developed land containingapproximately 1,930 developed residences, a 74,000 square-foot commercial center, twoelementary schools, a junior high school, and a public park. The partially built project area alsoincludes two undeveloped commercial center sites, approximately 2,090 residences that have beenapproved but not yet built, and open space areas. The project area is generally located north of the North Valencia 2 Specific Plan community, west of the San Francisquito Canyon and Northpark communities, and east of the Lockheed Industrial Park and Pitchess Detention Center.Major roadways through the subject annexation area include Copper Hill Drive, West Hills Drive,Copperstone Drive, Rio Norte Drive, Tesoro Del Valle Drive, Avenida Rancho Tesoro, andRancho Tesoro Drive.The proposed annexation area can be summarized as having three distinct neighborhoods, whichinclude the West Creek/West Hills neighborhood, the Copperstone neighborhood, and the TesoroDel Valle neighborhood, as described below.

West Creek/West Hills Neighborhood

The West Creek/West Hills neighborhood is generally located west of Tesoro Del Valle Driveand south of Copper Hill Drive and consists of approximately 966 acres of partially developedland. The West Creek/West Hills neighborhood was part of Tract Map No. 52455, which was thesubdivision that created the neighborhood. This neighborhood currently consists of 429residential units, a 74,000 square-foot retail center, the West Creek Academy elementary school,Rio Norte Junior High School, and a public park. The neighborhood also includes twoundeveloped commercial center sites along Copper Hill Drive as well as 1,850 residences thathave been approved but not yet built.

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Copperstone Neighborhood

The Copperstone neighborhood is generally located on the northeast corner of Copperhill andDecoro Drive. The neighborhood consists of approximately 428 units in a 66-acre subdivision.This neighborhood was created by Tract Map No. 48202 and is fully built out with single-familyand multi-family residences.

Tesoro Del Valle Neighborhood

The Tesoro Del Valle neighborhood is generally located north of Copper Hill Drive and west of San Francisquito Canyon Road and consists of approximately 1,800 acres of partially developedland. The subdivision was created under Tract Map 51644, which includes a phasing plan for four phases of development. The first phase, known as Planning Area A, is generally located inthe southern portion of the subdivision, around the Tesoro Del Valle Drive and Avenida RanchoTesoro loop. Planning Area A consists of approximately 400 acres and is generally built out with1,077 residences and Tesoro Del Valle Elementary School.Planning Area A also consists of two private park sites that have not yet been built. These includea future 29-acre park site located south of Rancho Tesoro Drive and a future 30-acre park sitelocated adjacent to the Edison easement and San Francisquito Creek. Planning Areas B, C, and Dare undeveloped areas of the Tesoro subdivision, and are primarily located in the northern portionof the area. This area consists of approximately 1,400 acres of land that has been approved for approximately 240 residential units that have not yet been built.Project:The City of Santa Clarita proposes an annexation of approximately 2,831 acres of unincorporatedterritory generally located north of the North Valencia 2 Specific Plan area, along the northerly boundary of Santa Clarita. As a part of the annexation, the City proposes a General PlanAmendment and prezone that would designate the project area with City of Santa Clarita zoningand General Plan designations consistent with Los Angeles County land use planning and existingdevelopment on the project site. A Sphere of Influence Amendment consistent with the boundaryof the proposed annexation is also included as a part of this project.Currently, the project area is included in the City of Santa Clarita’s General Plan planning areaand consists of City of Santa Clarita land use designations that include RE (Residential Estate),RL (Residential Low), RS (Residential Suburban), CN (Commercial Neighborhood), CC(Community Commercial) and BP (Business Park). The land use designations for roughly half of the project area would change with this project. The proposed General Plan Amendment involvesthe amendment of several GPA Areas that are illustrated in Figure 5 – General Plan AmendmentMap and is summarized in Table 1.0 below.