Planning for Future Development Goes On

One of the lessons driven home during the Chapter's recent tour of the Santa Clarita Valley with Edel Vizcarra, Supervisor Antonovich's chief planning deputy, is how long the development process can take in California. Frequently, larger master-planned developments take years, even decades, between the time they are proposed and built out.

So even with an economic downturn of historic proportions in the homebuilding industry, plans are still going forward. The Camarillo Acorn this morning reports on a public hearing to gain community input into a 7,400-acre proposed development along Highway 101 just west of the Conejo Grade. The Conejo Creek development would include 2,500 homes, along with commercial uses, open space, bike trails, and other amenities. As the paper's Roxanne Estrada wrote:

This is the third time Dennis Hardgrave of Development Planning Services in Camarillo has presented the project to the public, but the recent meeting showed public concern is still high.

“We’re doing all of this to make sure people understand the project and process, and we want to give them chances to give their input and opinions,” Hardgrave said. “We bring the input to the property owners that might be worth analyzing for alternatives.”

Giving the community the chance to weigh-in on a proposal early in the process is critically important in gaining ultimate approvals. The EIR for the project should be completed by summer.

BIA Hosts Development Tour for Key County Official

The Chapter recently hosted an informative tour of Santa Clarita development projects for Supervisor Mike Antonovich’s new planning deputy, Edel Vizcarra. Vizcarra has been on the job for just over three months, havinMarlee Lauffer discusses Newhall Ranch plans.g previously worked for an LA City Council Member.

The tour included stops at several developments to demonstrate the different phases of a development project, and so Vizcarra could see the scale of projects that occur in the 5th District.

Members Marlee Lauffer with Newhall Land and Greg Medieros with Centennial began the morning by presenting an overview of the entitlement process, emphasizing that projects being planned today will likely still be under construction 25 years froPadree's Jim Bizzelle shows Edel Vizcarra location of Skyline Ranch project.m now.

We then took Vizcarra, Rosalind Wayman, the supervisor’s senior deputy for the Santa Clarita Valley, and Norm Hickling, the deputy for the Antelope Valley, on a tour of several developments in the valley: Pardee’s Skyline Ranch, KB’s Echo Pointe/Echo Ridge; and Lennar’s West Creek. Builders Jim Bizzelle, Tom DiPrima and Bob Tummolo stressed the need for the County to improve the timelines and certainty of approvals and to reduce and defer fees.

We also emphasized the extent that development pays for infrastructure improvements such as fire stations, treatment plants and new roads.

The tour was organized by Government Affairs Director Sandy Sanchez. Also participating were CEO Holly Schroeder, Antelope Valley Director Marta Golding Brown and Government/Public Affairs Director John Frith.

BIASC/LAV members and staff along with Supervisor Antonovich's staff on BIA development tour.

NAHB Statement on President's Plan to Reduce Long-Term Deficits

WASHINGTON, April 13 - Bob Nielsen, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder from Reno, Nev., issued the following statement regarding President Obama's speech today at George Washington University on deficit reduction:

President Obama today reiterated the importance of tax policy in promoting homeownership but endorsed limiting itemized deductions, including the mortgage interest deduction. Home owners cannot afford higher taxes at a time when the housing market is struggling to recover and contribute to economic growth.

The President also suggested that many middle-class taxpayers do not benefit from the itemized deductions. In fact, the middle class is the primary beneficiary of the mortgage interest deduction. The reason most taxpayers itemize is because they are home owners, so it is not surprising that nearly 70 percent of the tax benefits associated with this vital tax incentive goes to households earning less than $200,000 a year. Any attempt to chip away at the mortgage interest deduction would represent an attack on middle-class families.



More than 1,200 Permit Allocations Available in Simi Valley

When homebuilding volume does start to ramp up in Southern California, one place builders might look is Simi Valley, where the recession has caused a surplus of building permit allocations under the city’s growth management plan.

The City Council learned this week that as of the end of 2010 there were 1247.8 unreserved permits ready to be allocated, up from 829.9 at the beginning of the year. The allocation grants are valid for three years and then expire unless a project is vested or a time extension is approved.

The city’s website has more information on the allocation process.



No Double-Dip Seen in L.A. Housing Prices

Greg Wilcox of the Daily News reported over the weekend that the housing market in the Los Angeles area is unlikely to suffer a double-dip in prices. The article quotes Paul Blitzer, managing director and chairman of the Price Index Committee responsible for the widely quoted Standard & Poors Case-Shiller Home Price Index, who said:

You don't have a double dip from our perspective. You just have a lot of worried people….Everybody has their own definition of a double dip and 9 out of 10 of them change it every 10 minutes or so.

Blitzer goes on to say that the housing market is returning to a more normal pattern in which local markets ebb and flow based on local conditions, unlike the case during the past few years when markets across the country tended to move in unison.