The Calgrove Corridor Coalition has announced that a legal challenge to the city of Santa Clarita’s approval of the Wiley Canyon Village Project has been filed.

The legal petition against the approval includes numerous causes of action documenting why the project approval should be overturned. These include the failure of the city to follow the General Plan, failure to comply with the California Environmental Quality Act, lack of compliance with the city of Santa Clarita Municipal Code, inappropriate use of the State Housing Accountability and Housing Crisis Acts, Ralph M. Brown Act violations and disregard of health and safety protections for both the existing nearby neighborhood and new residents, including seniors.

The Santa Clarita City Council unanimously approved the Wiley Canyon Village Project in November.

The plan includes 232 condos in two-story buildings and 120 assisted-living units as well as a quarter-acre of commercial development in Wiley Canyon located on the former home of the Smiser Mule Ranch between Wiley Canyon Road and Interstate 5, north of Calgrove Boulevard.

The assisted-living units would be constructed in a 140,000-square-foot facility.

In a press release issued by the Calgrove Corridor Coalition specific concerns regarding the project were listed as follows:

The city continues to approve dense “mixed use” development that allows four-story buildings, despite inadequate commercial floor space to meet this criterion. Such actions have now become a pattern and practice of zoning manipulation throughout the city.

Inadequate infrastructure to meet the valley’s traffic needs.

Inadequate evacuation capacity through a private gate, and inattention to how seniors will get out of a four-story building without electricity in a fire induced public safety power shutoff.
Insufficient fire facilities to serve this high fire severity zone in the southern part of the valley: a new fire station site is needed.

Insufficient parking that will cause spill over into local neighborhood.

Placing housing next to the freeway, subjecting future residents to noise and air pollution impacts.

The appellant for the legal challenge is R. Weston Monroe.

The Calgrove Corridor Coalition press release included the following statement by Monroe:

“Santa Clarita is planning for significant growth along the Via Princessa cross-valley corridor directly connected to Wiley Canyon, yet this project was approved without the engineering or financial safeguards needed to ensure future roadway capacity, and in disregard of the City’s own General Plan and municipal code requirements. Growth only works when infrastructure planning is enforceable. This lawsuit asks the court to require the city to follow its General Plan and municipal codes before approving development that permanently constrains critical transportation corridors for much of the valley’s existing residents and those yet to arrive.

City records show this project was approved under the name ‘Wiley Canyon LLC,’ yet no active company by that name appears to have existed at the time the application was submitted or approved. City planning staff are responsible for verifying applicants and ensuring compliance with adopted laws, including the General Plan, municipal codes, and procedural requirements. Accepting and approving a major development without confirming the legal existence of the applicant reflects a breakdown in that review process and is one of the issues this lawsuit asks the court to examine.

A basic question remains unanswered: why did City planning staff ignore required General Plan provisions, municipal codes, and regulatory safeguards, and never verify that the entity applying for approval even legally existed before, during, or after the project was approved? These are fundamental questions that should have been asked at the outset. This lawsuit seeks to have the court require that those questions finally be answered and that all legally required procedures and adopted plans are actually followed.”

The Calgrove Corridor Coalition is comprised of local residents who seek to preserve the character of neighborhoods in the vicinity of Wiley Canyon Road and Calgrove Boulevard.

The site plan for the Wiley Canyon Village Project.