Part Two of a Seven-Part SCVTalk Series, chronicling Valencia’s Final Residential Developments.
The story of the greater West Creek development is one of starts and stops. For perspective, the West Creek project was scoped and submitted to LACo around the same time as Tesoro del Valle in Saugus (Mr. Worden has your back story). Bill Clinton was president, Ferry and Weste were Council newbies, and the north end of the valley looked vastly different than today. Fast forward twelve years: SunCal completed the Tesoro project (which was timed almost exactly with the housing market boom), some of those homes have even foreclosed and now house new buyers. Yet West Creek and West Hills (the name for the tracts on the north side of Copper Hill) remain in their early stages of development.
Before you dismiss this as “just another project,” note that without the West Creek development, there would be arguably be no Decoro bridge, no Copper Hill extension, and probably no Rio Norte Middle School. This project has been through the ringer, including a trip to the California Supreme Court and worse — survived the wrath of Lynne Plambeck.
Major milestones for West Creek:
- 1998 Nov: A new “Rural Feel Development” is announced by NLF, encompassing two communities split by Copper Hill- one higher density “Copper Hill Village”, the other modeled after Valencia Woodlands tentatively dubbed “Canyon Estates” (names were subsequently and thankfully changed to West Creek and West Hills, respectively)
- 1998 Dec: Copper Hill extension project gets underway
- 1999 Jan: West Creek originally planned as largest gated community in LA county, dubious approval based on safety concerns
- 2000 May: NLF drops gates on higher density side, wins county approval, SCOPE cites concerns including water availability and native oaks
- 2000 Aug: SCOPE sharpens arguments, alleges dirty tricks involved with the EIR; files suits along with Sierra Club in LA & Ventura courts
- 2000 Dec: LACo Board of Supes approves project
- 2001 Jan: Groundbreaking of Rio Norte and Decoro Drive bridge over San Francisquito creek
- 2001 Mar: Ventura judge issues restraining order on the Decoro bridge, citing water impact to farmers per SCOPE suit
- 2001 May: Arroyo Toad is spotted in San Francisquito Creek; Friends of the Santa Clara River file a suit in Federal court to suspend NLF permits
- 2001 Jun Santa Barbara Judge lifts earlier Ventura court ban, Rio Norte and Decoro Drive bridge continue construction
- 2001 Nov: LA Superior Court rules in favor of NLF from SCOPE’s earlier EIR challenge
- 2002 Nov: SCOPE appeals the ruling
- 2003: Decoro Drive bridge is completed
- 2003 Feb: Court of Appeals reverses the Santa Barbara decision and orders a new EIR rather than one based on a “dream of water entitlements”; NLF appeals
- 2003 Jul: State Supreme Court affirms the Appeals court, NLF goes back to the drawing board on water and EIR
- 2003 Sep: Rio Norte Opens
- 2004 May: Another toad, this time a Western spadefoot, found by NLF, who voluntarily puts the brakes on. “I’m very pleased they discovered it” quoth Lynne Plambeck. It was later determined the toad wandered to the area from elsewhere.
Western Spadefoot toad
- 2005 Jan: New year, New EIR. Antonovich spokesman: “The water analysis of West Creek rivaled that of the analysis that was done for Newhall Ranch.” SCOPE alleges perchlorate in a nearby well.
- 2005 Mar: Revised EIR OK’d by LACo supes, Yaroslavsky dissents over water.
- 2005 Jun: Perchlorate confirmed in one of the water supply wells intended to serve West Creek, development stalled
- 2005 Jul: Board of Supes signs off on the final EIR; NLF initiates perchlorate cleanup effort, Plambeck undeterred
- 2005 Oct: Lauffer says homes in West Creek will be available “next Fall” and “priced in the mid-threes through the mid-eights”
- 2005 Dec: SUSD negotiates with NLF to have them build West Creek Elementary. Developer-built school would be a first in SCV and one of ten in California. Lauffer: “Private developers are able to get it built faster than school districts”
- 2006 Jan: LA Superior Court sides with NLF on what is the last of the SCOPE / West Creek lawsuits
- 2007 Apr: Groundbreaking on $35M West Creek Elementary. Modeled after Tesoro Elementary, SUSD Supe Fish, sticking it square in the eye of Helmers parents, declares West Creek “the most beautiful school in the valley”
- 2007 Oct: Terry R. Miller Memorial park opens, named after a construction supervisor for Newhall Land
- 2008 Feb: First homes completed in West Creek, 3000-sf “Patina” series feature solar power and tankless water heaters
- 2008 Jun: NLF parent LandSource declares bankruptcy
- 2009 Jan: Construction complete on 15 acre West Creek park, but a final inspection puts a damper on its opening
- 2009 Jul: “Patina” series put on ice in favor of higher density “Aria” series
- 2010 Jan: West Creek park opens, Antonovich keynotes the dedication
- 2010 Feb: Lennar consolidates West Creek, West Hills, RiverVillage sales offices into one structure across from Rio Norte
Today, there remains more dirt than stucco. The land is fully improved; green Edison utility boxes are burrowed between the weeds, ready for hookup in the not-too-distant future. Parks, schools, grand entrances, and clusters of completed homes stand next to graded lots. Paseos are paved and lighted, common areas are planted and irrigated; block wall fencing lines the named, paved, empty streets. Standing in an open lot looking down, weeds and native shrubs provide natural shelter for the naked dirt. Looking around, camo-wearing kids scuttle to a makeshift fort clutching air rifles. Looking out, panoramic vistas from east to west await, enticing the precious homebuyers that will ultimately dictate the timing for this storied development.
West Creek entrance off Copper Hill
West Creek park path, north side.
New construction in West Creek.
Upper area in West Hills, facing north. Note the improvements.
Kids play near a makeshift fort in West Hills.
Camo and air guns.
Next, an inside look at the campus of $35M West Creek Elementary – the lynchpin of SUSD’s future plans and Valencia’s last new school for the foreseeable future.
West Creek Elementary, main entrance.
Fully implemented bike program.
http://cache.virtualtourist.com/3682095-Dhaka.jpg
Does not look like an end of an era to me, just an extended beginning….
Sam,
You have to put it in perspective. Since 1965, NLF has created dozens of villages.
As stalled as these last three are, they’re the last three.
Perhaps the title is a bit dramatic (“The Final Chapter” is too Hollywood), but from a longer term perspective, that’s exactly what this is. Especially given what’s next.
Jeff, will you be discussing the Newhall Ranch development in this series?
21,000 homes and 70,000 people over 25 years, building over and rerouting the Santa Clara River, building on large, defunct oil fields, etc. It will be a great loss to the natural state of the land in that area.
They’re supposed to start building this year…
Stevens,
We will absolutely cover Newhall Ranch in this series.
Stay tuned.
Good to hear. It’s a topic that I feel isn’t as public or well-known as it should be by the residents of this area.
I feel as though the oil issue is largely ignored. they will be building directly on top of the defunct Castaic Junction field (~85 wells) and the currently-active Newhall-Potrero field (~135 wells). Not to mention building on top of some extremely historic land and sites.
Also, it would be interesting to see the exact locations of the proposed home lots. It’s not too difficult to get the exact locations of the oil wells (in longitude and latitude) from the CA Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources.
Actually Stevens, it’s NickelDime who’s writing this series, and doing a great job. I look forward to his posts about Newhall Ranch.
My mistake! I wish I could edit these things.
Tesoro is NOT in Saugus anymore than West Hills is or Northpark.
Zephyr:
It is indeed, postal code or not. Nothing personal, it’s just not Valencia.
Mr. Worden has your back story.
Minor point, but I think first developer-built school in SCV was Fair Oaks Elementary?
My deed of trust states Santa Clarita, not Saugus.
Venturabob:
Fair Oaks started construction in 2002 and was funded by developers but built by Sulphur Springs.
West Creek is the first in our valley that was constructed by developers, as reported by the Daily News, May 1 2007. It’s archived, but the abstract contains the important bit.
Zephyr:
It’s both complicated and downright silly. I’m by no means an expert, and pardon me if this seems redundant, but it may be helpful for other folks too.
We have a few things going in different directions.
1) Valencia is a trademarked name by Newhall Land. It encompasses developments performed by Newhall Land on the greater Newhall Ranch. It sometimes has a Saugus zip code (RiverVillage) and sometimes crosses over the 5 (Valencia Marketplace / Wal*Mart) with a Newhall or Stevenson Ranch zip, but it’s mostly the areas that straddle McBean and Orchard Village.
2) The City of Santa Clarita. It is a highly defined area that may or may not overlap with Valencia, Saugus, Castaic, Canyon Country and myriad other communities in our valley. There are some areas with a Santa Clarita zip that aren’t within the City boundaries.
3) Community boundaries. Since Valencia has a trademark, anything Newhall Land calls “Valencia” is. Outside of that, the other communities aren’t as tightly defined and end up with de facto boundaries.
Tesoro is in unincorporated Los Angeles county, within the sphere of influence of the City of Santa Clarita, with a Valencia zip code. Is it in Santa Clarita? Yes, but not the City. Is it in Saugus? At one time, yes it was, but perhaps the zip code changed the de facto Saugus status. Is it in Valencia? Technically, no, but it now has a 91354 zip code, so in a way, yes.
You can verify this by plugging your address in to this tool on the City website.
You may also read the City’s annexation report and analysis, performed by Burr Consulting as an advisory to the community. The report gives all the details on boundaries and fiscal impact of annexation.
On West Hills / West Creek: if Newhall Land wasn’t developing it, it would be in a similar status as Tesoro. Alas, since they call it Valencia, it’s Valencia.
Now I’m going to get a cup of coffee.