SANTA CLARITA : Judge to Review General Plan Suit

A Los Angeles magistrate Wednesday took under advisement a request to overturn the city of Santa Clarita’s blueprint for future growth, which a developer says was adopted in violation of several technical requirements.

Superior Court Judge Pro Tem Emilie H. Elias said Wednesday that she will review the lawsuit against Santa Clarita by Dale Poe Development Corp., the company building the huge Stevenson Ranch housing tract just west of the city.

The developer alleges, among other issues, that the city’s blueprint, known as a General Plan, is invalid because copies of it were not available to the public within two days of its June 25 adoption, as is mandated by state law. The lawsuit also alleges that the city approved a portion of the plan concerning noise without making the proper map available to the public.

The city argued Wednesday that it could not make final copies of the plan available until nearly three months after it was approved because of last-minute changes that the City Council made in the three-inch-thick document. However, edited sections of the plan were available to the public at City Hall, the attorneys said.

The city admitted that it had made a mistake in approving the noise element without the proper map and amended the plan to include it in February.