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I’m concerned that the Aug. 9 article might give some the impression that Smart Growth is fighting a hospital expansion. Because a Beverly Hills developer (G&L Realty) cleverly orchestrated its plans for a multimillion-dollar income venture to coincide with a hospital “expansion,” Smart Growth must continually confront the myth that it is fighting that hospital expansion.
On the contrary, Smart Growth has been on record, since the very beginning, as a supporter of more patient beds. In fact, it was Smart Growth SCV that pointed out that the first plan failed to include the in-patient tower, focusing all its attention on the five medical office buildings and five parking structures proposed at the time.
More recently, everything from G&L is cleverly worded to avoid guaranteeing hospital beds in their massively profitable project. That’s why G&L always manipulates for short public review time frames on anything related to the project. When our city manager goes along with this, Smart Growth has no choice but to demand legally required time for review.
The Signal continues to do the community a valuable service when it focuses on the real battle: G&L Realty’s three multi-story medical office buildings and the related three or four parking structures crowded onto a constricted site with only one road providing vehicle access.
Your article illuminates one small part of an organized strategy to keep Smart Growth SCV, and city residents, from discovering the many flaws in this master plan, a strategy that the city of Santa Clarita has seemingly bought into. And with the latest revelation, that this same G&L Realty donated $30,000 towards a city councilwoman’s successful election campaign, that implication grows stronger.
Thank you for your continued interest in a matter that will set a precedent for more “master plan entitlements” which strip power away from current zoning restrictions and give developers carte blanche to build whatever and wherever they want.
