Mayor Bob Kellar
We hope you enjoy the City of Santa Clarita’s new online newsletter. Our goal is to provide you with current, updated and linkable information, in an easy-to-read format. You can look for new additions to City Brief after each City Council meeting (held on the second and fourth Tuesday of every month). We hope you find this information about the City of Santa Clarita helpful.
Bob Kellar, Mayor
The City of Santa Clarita’s City Council was back in session Tuesday, August 26, after their summer hiatus. The full agenda included recognitions for outgoing Planning Commissioner Michael Berger and outgoing Parks, Recreation, and Community Services Commissioner Laura Hauser.
Both commissioners served the community diligently during their tenure. Commissoner Hauser worked on several high profile projects including the design of the expansion of the Sports Complex and the creation of Todd Longshore Park. Commissioner Berger served during the review of several high profile planning projects and his input can be seen in many places in Santa Clarita including the Madison Apartments and projects along Town Center Drive.
In addition to a full consent calendar, there were a handful of agenda items that generated comments. Public Hearing Agenda item 11: AMENDMENT TO THE UNIFIED DEVELOPMENT CODE FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION REVIEW was moved from its first reading to September 9, where the second reading will be held by the City Council. This amendment to the Unified Development Code allows the City to review projects that might impact the City’s historical resources.
The final agenda item of the evening was Unfinished Business Agenda Item 12: BENZ ROAD TRAFFIC ISSUES AND RESPONSE TO NEIGHBORHOOD MEETING. The issue of traffic in the Saugus area, specifically along Benz Road and surrounding neighborhoods, has been something the City has been trying to remedy for the last five years with numerous public meetings and studies taking place over that time. On Tuesday night, City staff presented alternatives to the City Council, based on their research and outreach efforts with the community. After much debate and input from community members, the City Council directed staff to get started on a three-month trial project that will locate a diagonal diverter at the intersection of Alaminos and Benz to restrict and discourage ”cut-through” traffic through the surrounding residential neighborhoods. After the three-month trial, City staff will report back to the City Council. The City Council’s direction also gave the resources and latitude necessary for staff to use speed humps.
The City of Santa Clarita’s City Council regular meetings are held each second and fourth Tuesday of the month in the Council Chambers at Santa Clarita City Hall located at 23920 Valencia Blvd. Agendas and minutes can be found at the City’s web site. Meetings are broadcast live on Time Warner Channel 20 and streamed on the City’s web site.
Additional information regarding the latest City programs and projects are highlighted on the City’s multi-media web page – Media Central. Santa Clarita City Briefs is an online source of information highlighting recent events with the City of Santa Clarita.
Both the City and County have their own General Plans, but each have become outdated. The City’s General Plan was adopted in the late 1980s, while the County’s Santa Clarita Valley Area-wide Plan was last amended in 1990. The existing plans address issues from City and County viewpoints independently, when in many cases, these issues could be addressed jointly for more efficiency and greater effectiveness. Over the last several years, dozens of public and community meetings have been held to help create the first-ever, joint plan, One Valley, One Vision (OVOV), representing the entire Santa Clarita Valley. The City Council’s long-stated commitment to five acres of parkland per 1,000 residents, as well as community special standards will remain in the new plan.
At the July 15, 2008 Planning Commission Study Session, City and County staff presented the Draft Land Use Element from the Joint Valley wide General Plan, marking the third of five Planning Commission Study Sessions this calendar year. The City and the County are dedicated to continuing public participation and leading discussions on the draft elements of OVOV. The Land Use Element is one of seven State-required elements of the General Plan. Areas covered in this element include community design, proposed zoning designations, and policies for urban form. More OVOV Planning Commission Study Sessions have been scheduled:
• September 16, 2008 – Draft Land Use Element, Land Use Designations [pdf*]
• October 21, 2008 – Draft Housing Element
All Study Sessions are at 5:30 in the Century Room at City Hall, 23920 Valencia Blvd. first floor. For more information, please contact Senior Planner Jason Smisko at 661.255.4306.
Each year, the City of Santa Clarita receives tens of thousands of requests and works hard to provide accurate and timely responses to the residents and business community. Earlier this year, the City implemented a new online system to manage and track online citizen requests.
Since going live with the new system in February 2008, the City has received and managed a total of 3,764 requests/inquiries from residents and businesses via eService. Of that total:
The totals (above) only reflect “online” queries and not the many phone calls and letters the City responds to daily. The new management system is yet another way the City of Santa Clarita is working to provide excellent service to the community.
The City of Santa Clarita is partnering with the Santa Clarita Valley Food Pantry for the month of August for the Summer Food Drive! The Food Drive will begin on Monday, August 4, and will run until Friday, August 29.
There will be three locations throughout the City where you can help your friends and neighbors by making a donation. The donation locations are: City Hall, the Sports Complex, and the Transit Maintenance Facility.
The Santa Clarita Valley Food Pantry was established in 1986 and uses donations from the community to provide supplemental food on a short-term basis to qualified, local residents.
For more information on the Summer Food Drive, including a list of the most needed items, please visit the City’s web site at santa-clarita.com.
On Tuesday, July 8 at the City’s Aquatic Center, the Los Angeles County Fire Department, City of Santa Clarita, and the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station joined together to urge residents to learn the basics of pool safety in order to prevent children from drowning. Santa Clarita Fire officials, joined by Mayor Bob Kellar, emphasized the dire need to be vigilant and proactive in preventing summertime drowning.
Santa Clarita resident Robyn Fennessy also shared her first hand account of how she successfully performed CPR on her 18-month-old daughter and saved her life after finding her face down in the family’s backyard swimming pool.
With temperatures reaching into triple digits, families are taking advantage of backyard pools as well as the use of community pools. An increase in the number of near-drowning and drowning-related deaths have been reported in the Santa Clarita area. Residents are encouraged to learn CPR, participate in swim lessons, and learn the basics of water safety in order to prevent water-related deaths.
A variety of swim lessons and water safety courses are offered by the City of Santa Clarita and the City’s website offers many tips as well.
City Council Public Comment In Brief
August 27, 2008With the City Council back in session, the public participation portion of the August 26 City Council meeting focused on several issues.
One item of concern for some residents was the newly installed Southern California Edison transmission towers. The towers were installed near the Belcaro senior housing development and are part of the Antelope-Pardee Transmission project. The concern among residents is over visual blight. Southern California Edison installed large lattice steel towers (LST) ranging over 200 feet tall. During the comments period, some residents conveyed their thanks to the City for their proactive efforts to help resolve this matter.
On August 25, City of Santa Clarita Mayor Bob Kellar along with Los Angeles Country 5th District Supervisor, Michael D. Antonovich sent a letter: ltr-antelope-pardee-500kv-transmission-project-082508 to Alan J. Fohrer, Chairman and CEO of Southern California Edison. The letter expressed a list of concerns with the use of the unsightly lattice steel towers. Furthermore, the letter requested removal and replacement of the unsightly towers in favor of less obtrusive tubular steel poles.
Recently news about the towers was covered by the Daily News: Utility towers protested in Santa Clarita
The issue of the City’s parkland was also brought up. The City of Santa Clarita’s long term stated plan is to provide five acres of parkland for every one thousand residents. With the newly completed Todd Longshore Park in Canyon Country and upcoming expansion of both Central Park and the Sports Complex, the City of Santa Clarita remains firm in its commitment to meet these parkland goals.
This long stated goal will be included in the One Valley, One Vision general plan.
Tags:council meetings, public comment, council
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off