Sierra Club applauds court's rejection of Newhall Ranch EIR

The Santa Clara River.

Over the past two decades, the Sierra Club and other environmental groups have opposed a massive new Newhall Ranch plan that would house 58,000 people on 12,000 acres along the Santa Clara River. Among other objections, activists said the environmental impact report for the project was flawed.

Now the California Supreme Court agreed on an appeal and threw out the report.

"The court said the environmental report failed to buttress its conclusion that the development would not significantly affect greenhouse gas emissions, which cause climate change," the Los Angeles Times reported Nov. 30. "Also, the court said, it illegally allowed for the capture and relocation of the unarmored threespine stickleback, an endangered freshwater fish."

The story went on to quote Lynne Plambeck, president of the Santa Clarita Organization for Planning and the Environment and Angeles Chapter activist, as saying the decision will resonate because of concerns over climate change, particularly with talks being held in Paris.

“Land use is going to be one of the major generators of greenhouse gases, in this type of urban sprawl project,” Plambeck told the Los Angeles Times.

Though the action hurts the planned community, it didn't completely kill it. The paper reports that Newhall Land & Farming says it would continue with plans for the project.

Sierra Club and environmental organization have fought the planned development west of Santa Clarita and the 5 Freeway because of the impact on the Santa Clara River. The waterway is Los Angeles County's last mostly wild river. It is still home to many endangered species including amphibians, fish, birds and reptiles. It supports a dwindling run of Southern steelhead in its western reaches that several environmental groups have worked hard to save.

The river is a last treasure trove of the flora and fauna that existed in the Los Angeles region for many centuries. Now many of these species no longer exist anywhere else. For instance, the San Fernando Valley spine flower was re-discovered on the Newhall Ranch project after being thought extinct.

The river also acts as an essential wildlife corridor for bears, mountain lions and other large mammals as they move between the San Gabriel, Santa Susana and Los Padres mountain ranges.

Related story: Newhall Ranch: The unending quest to develop the Santa Clara River