At their Tuesday meeting, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors unanimously decided to set aside $1.3 million for additional open space and wildlife habitat in the Newhall Pass area.
Don’t miss a thing. Get breaking Santa Clarita news alerts delivered right to your inbox.
In July, the City of Santa Clarita set aside $2.8 million to acquire land in the same area, which had previously been slated for the high-density improvement project, Las Lomas.
Santa Clarita, the Wildlife Conservation Board, Caltrans’ Environmental Enhancement and Mitigation Program and the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy are partnering with the county for this open space acquisition, to bring the total project cost to $8,125,000 for 550 acres of unincorporated land.
Once all the agencies in question have approved their individual contributions, the project can go forward, according to Rick Gould, city director of Parks, Recreation and Community Services.
“There are a number of parterns that are funding some portion of the purchase…” Gould said. Each of these agencies has some sort of formal process that we have to go to to acquire the money.”
The county’s contribution is allocated from the Specified Excess Funds available to the Fifth District, through the Regional Park and Open Space District’s Excess Funds Project.
The two properties in question, Gateway Ranch and Valley Vista are adjacent to existing publicly-owned land, according to a letter from the Regional Park and Open Space District.
Increasing the open space will provide a direct corridor from the San Gabriel Mountains between Interstate 210 and State Route 138 and the Santa Susana Mountains west of Interstate 5, the letter said.
Click here for the district’s full letter to the board.
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors meets at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesdays. To livestream the meeting or view the board agenda and supporting documents, click here.
Do you have a news tip? Call us at (661) 298-1220, or drop us a line at community@hometownstation.com.
[node:title]
Article: [node:title]
Source: Santa Clarita News
Author: [node:author]