stupid is a stupid does, sir! what a joke! ralph's, walgreen, the vine, across from ralph's, and then adjacent the county maintenance facility. vacancies upon vacancies. and eventually the corner of castaic and parker. "well, no one else would rent it, so we "had" to rent to it to the loser". "we couldn't just leave it vacant". "after all, it is just a truck stop anyways."

welp, ur, looks like Lallie's closed. Good thing the Vine's is opening. Now there will be vacancies at three places, Ralph's shopping center, Walgreen's shopping center, and soon the Vine shopping center. Looking forward to the proposed new shopping center off the old road north of the new townhouses. Can't have too many vacancies. Not!

I wish the County would provide funds to landscape the areas along The Old Road north of Parker Road so the ugly chain link fence and trash wasn't visible.
http://www.the-signal.com/?module=displays...d=51005&format=html

Fast food moratorium in South LA, but not in Castaic!

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-fa...coll=la-home-center

More to look forward to:
http://www.loopnet.com/xNet/MainSite/Listi...ode=1lww2t006a00001

A truck stop provides a wholesome environment for children and families, including diesel exhaust, traffic congestion with poor visibility, and prostitution. Santa Clarita is working fervently to change the image of downtown Newhall, but our town council does nothing to improve the trucking area.
http://www.dailynews.com/santaclarita/ci_6255877

http://www.dailynews.com/santaclarita/ci_6166388

When I sitting in traffic, composed of trucks and vehicles mostly from outsiders that don't live in the 91384 area code, seven days a week, is that fair? I didn't buy a home in the northern Castaic area code knowing a High School and 4000 more homes would be built. I wasn't handed a report stating the truck traffic on the I-5 would double in ten years.

I was told a High School would be built by 2006 in the Hasley Canyon area.

I know a High School is needed. I don't want to be a nimby. But dumping so much traffic, pollution, and noise in one location seven days a week is unfair.

I know trucks are vital to our economy. But the truck area is changing from commercial to residential, and the realistic thing to do is have their operation relocated while it's still possible. To ignore this is irresponsible planning.

There's an article on today's Siganl regarding the Northlake development and the upcoming County hearing http://www.dailynews.com/santaclarita/ci_6166388

I'm sure there's plenty of support for the Northlake development and High School High School from Castaic parents that won't be directly impacted by the traffic, and of course local businesses. If the original location was was rejected because of traffic, will the new location better from a traffic perspective? I kind of doubt it. Sure the original location had traffic from the industrial center, but the roads into and out of the Hasley area were planned for this level of traffic. The Northlake area is heavily impacted by truck traffic and Lake traffic, although most of the Lake traffic occurs on weekends. In addition, the Sports Complex brings in traffic, although this again is mainly on weekends. With the additonal 4000 homes and a High School, the Northlake area will be impacted by traffic on weekdays and weekends, while the original location would have had a reprieve from traffic on the weekends. If the truck traffic doubles, it could get scary.

What about air quality and noise impacts to local residents in the Northlake area? Why should they have to be subjected to even more pollution and noise from all the traffic?

Eyesore signage targeted by the City of Santa Clarita-
one more reason Castaic should annex to Santa Clarita.
http://www.dailynews.com/santaclarita/ci_6048281

According to http://www.cuddyvalley.org/comments/tran_northlake.pdf
truck traffic along the I-5 will double. And whatever adverse traffic/safety impacts this produces along the I-5, will be nothing in comparsion with the impacts in and around the Castaic truck stop. This impact alone will be a traffic nightmare for local residents. And adding 4000 homes and a High School will be a disaster. And local property values will plummet along with the quality of life, and so it goes...

The Vine tenants http://www.regencycenters.com/PropertyDetail.aspx?PID=310
Still only half occupied. Tropical Smoothie bailed. Starbucks is relocating from the Ralph's shopping center ( http://local.yahoo.com/details?id=31099109 )to The Vine. There's a huge "Space for Lease" banner sign on the Old Road side of the Walgreen's shopping center.

BTW, a small shopping plaza is going in between the new detached no-yard homes north of Parker and the Rainbow Liquor store, which will only make things worse.

Masterful. There's no other way to describe it. Our Town Council and the County have done a masterful job orchestrating local development.

Incorporation? Yah right! We need to annex to Santa Clarita now (if they'll take this disaster).

Operation of the Castaic Lakes is a money loser. The American economy is expected to slow considerably when the huge wave, an estimated 70 million, of post WWII baby boomers retire, 2010-2025. Pro-active steps to ensure financial stability of Lake opertions should be taken now. I recommend leasing shore land around the lakes, e.g., upscale restaurants, to generate revenue.

All of Castaic should annex to Santa Clarita ASAP.

The truck stop in northern Castaic should be relocated ASAP.

If pre-fab buildings reduce costs without sacrificing quality or safety, they should be the norm, not the exception.

Article in The Signal-Trucks Act As Rolling Road Block
http://www.the-signal.com/?module=displays...d=48463&format=html

No Kidding! And that's pretty much what driving along Castaic Road between Parker and Lake Hughes is everyday. And it's no surprise because it is a truck stop. But what is outrageous is adding 4000 more homes and a High School in this location! There's no way to mitigate rolling road blocks. So either relocate the truck stop, or don't build 4000 homes and a High School at this location.

Edited by author 05-03-2007 10:36 AM
Golf Course in Northlake? Ha! New $10 million swimming facility next to the Castaic Sports Complex? Not! Even if it was built, it would be over run with non-locals from lower Castaic Lake. Northern Castaic is doomed to become another San Pedro. Middle class buy homes as a short term stepping stone. Just look at the housing turnover. By the time Castaic High School is built, it will be an ugly piece of pre-fabbed crap that "compliments the surroundings", a traffic nightmare, and over crowded. Heck, a moto-cross was being proposed in the area and the local town council was actually considering it. What a bunch of . Can you imagine a moto-cross, lake traffic, truck stop, Sports Complex, 4000 more homes worth of traffic, high school, all in one location with limited access? Who would give such a proposal serious consideration? The only action that will give the area some slim chance for improvement is relocation of the truck stop.

Well at least the recent article in The Signal ( http://www.the-signal.com/?module=displays...d=47199&format=html ) regarding the Castaic High School mentioned traffic from the new Northlake homes and new school, and trucks, but nothing was mentioned about the existing Castaic Lake visitor traffic. Nor was it stated that the impacts from trucks is far different than impacts from cars. If the truck stop was relocated, and the off ramps and traffic signals improved, and perhaps the Lake bound traffic rerouted, it could work. But I doubt all these measures will be implemented. Look at the new traffic signal at Lake Hughes and The Old Road, on the west side of the freeway. That hasn't resolved the real traffic problems caused by having a poorly located and poorly traffic controlled Freeway offramp, gas stations, and a shopping center, that intersect the flow of local residents going to and from their homes. No way would such a maligned configuration be accepted in Valencia or West Ranch. Then there's the issue of the shopping centers. The Ralph's shopping center needs a major facelift, and efforts should have been made to fill it to capacity before allowing the Walgreen's center. And the Walgreen's styling is not only ugly, but weird. Is that a mosque above Lollie's? And so now we have a dilipidated unfilled Ralph's, and an ugly new unfilled Walgreen's. But apparently that isn't enough so in comes The Vine. I'll bet the Vine has difficulty filling it's capacity, and I'll bet most of the businesses are focused on the truckers and Lake visitors, and not on the local community, which means no decent sit down restaurants, stores, or entertainment, e.g., movie theatre. Instead we'll see fast food places and small dumpy businesses, e.g., tatoos, laundary, pawn shop, smoke shop, liquor store etc.. And if that's not enough, there is the County run Sports complex with overhead transmission lines and one horribly maintained soccer field. The baseball fields and indoor gym appear decent. But the playground area is in sad shape, and the one soccer field is in terrible shape. My kids don't play soccer, but my most of my neighbor's kids do. Why not get together with Santa Clarita and plan some new soccer fields? Anyways, a poorly planned High School will only add to the existing traffic woes of the area.

The original site for Castaic High School was rejected by local residents because of traffic concerns. Why hasn't this issue been raised regarding the Northlake site? Castaic Lake receives over 800,000 visitors a year, there is a truck stop, and Northlake is proposing around 4,000 more homes. I suspect traffic will be directed off Parker through Ridge Route Road to avoid truck traffic on Castaic Road, but there will no doubt be spill over onto other streets. In addition, the offramps at Parker and Lake Hughes will be clogged, and the Old Road is reduced to one lane north of Parker, and new single family homes have been crammed immediately west of the Old Road at this location. Mixing High School aged drivers with large trucks is a recipe for disaster. The High School needs to be built, and few residents have vocally opposed the Northlake site, including me, but the truck stop needs to moved somewhere else, perhaps off the 5 freeway at Temple? In any case, the traffic issues and truck stop should be addressed prior to the opening of the High School.