Citing Traffic, Councilmember Slams Project in Santa Clarita

Councilmember Richard Alarcon is taking aim at a major planned development that he says will add "long commutes over already jammed freeways into the San Fernando Valley creating further gridlock and adding pollution to our air." The environmental documents for the project state that it will create 357,000 average daily trips, but there is no follow-up on what that will mean to the surrounding roadway network. Alarcon is asking the city to weigh in on this development and do everything in its power to stop the development.

The catch? Alarcon is railing against the Landmark Village residential project which is outside of city limits in the San Fernando Valley. Despite the project's potential impact to the City of L.A.'s transportation network, the city has not weighed in.

At last month's all-day transportation meeting in the City Council chambers, Director of City Planning Gail Goldberg told Alarcon that the city doesn't have a procedure to comment on projects outside of the city's jurisdiction.

For the city to have an impact it has to hurry. The LA County Board of Supervisors could vote on the project as soon as February 26th.