Agenda Item: 1
CITY OF SANTA CLARITA
AGENDA REPORT
PUBLIC HEARINGS
CITY MANAGER APPROVAL:
DATE: March 10, 2026
SUBJECT: DRAINAGE BENEFIT ASSESSMENT AREA 2025-1 (SAND
CANYON PLAZA) TRACTS 53074 AND 53074-01
DEPARTMENT: Neighborhood Services
PRESENTER: Darin Seegmiller
RECOMMENDED ACTION
City Council:
1. Conduct a public hearing and open and review ballots.
2. If no majority protest exists, adopt resolutions approving the Engineer's Report for Drainage Benefit Assessment Area (DBAA) 2025-1, and authorize the annual levy and collection of the assessments within DBAA 2025-1, beginning Fiscal Year 2026-27. If a majority protest exists, no action will be required.
BACKGROUND
On October 10, 2023, the City Council approved Final Tract Map 53074-01 and on May 28, 2024, the City Council approved Final Tract Map 53074. These actions allowed the development of 576 dwelling units, approximately 45,000 square feet of retail and restaurant use, and a 140- bed assisted living facility of approximately 137,149 square feet on a single institutional parcel.
The conditions of approval for this project require the establishment of a homeowner’s association or a comparable entity to fund the continued maintenance of drainage improvements that are not eligible for transfer to the Los Angeles County Flood Control District. The creation of the proposed Drainage Benefit Assessment Area (DBAA) fulfills this requirement.
The proposed DBAA 2025-1, Sand Canyon Plaza, assumes responsibility for administering the maintenance, reporting, monitoring, inspection, storm-damage repair, and cleaning of storm- drain improvements. These include new underground storm drainpipes constructed within and adjacent to Sand Canyon Road for Tract Maps 53074 and 53074-1, ultimately connected to regional infrastructure and flowing to the Santa Clara River. The system consists of approximately 359 linear feet of 18 to 36-inch reinforced concrete pipe, one storm drain
manhole, and two cast-in-place catch basins with local depressions for sediment capture. Two low-flow 12-inch high density polyethylene drains and one grated inlet (24-inch by 24-inch) are incorporated to manage base flows and provide water quality pretreatment.
Regular maintenance is required for the drainage improvements to function correctly within their design parameters. Services required for the assessment district include inspections, removal of debris, silt and sediment build-up, maintenance and repairs, and an annual assessment and engineer’s report review.
The Engineer’s Report contains the proposed boundaries of DBAA 2025-1, identifies the proposed facilities and services to be funded, determines the general and special benefits received by properties, and establishes the methodology to apportion the annual assessments. All parcels were established pursuant to the conditions set forth for the continued maintenance of landscape and infrastructure improvements, and as a result, each parcel within DBAA 2025-1 receives a special and distinct benefit from these improvements.
The maximum annual assessment to maintain the improvements associated with DBAA 2025-1 will be $12,812. Based on the number of units approved for construction, the annual assessment will be $20.48 per Equivalent Benefit Unit (EBU). Parcels identified as single-family residences and townhomes/condominiums are assessed at 1.00 EBU per dwelling unit. Parcels identified as Multi-Family (two or more units) are assessed at 0.75 EBU per dwelling unit. Parcels identified as Non-Residential Property are assessed at 11.00 EBUs per acre. Vacant parcels are assessed at a rate of .50 EBUs per acre.
Only two ballots were required and issued to the project developer, and the City worked directly with the developer and Willdan, the City’s assessment engineer, to define the drainage facilities and calculate the assessment, consistent with the established condition of approval requiring formation of the DBAA for long-term maintenance.
The maximum assessment rate will adjust each year based on the annual change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI), all Urban Consumers, for the Los Angeles Riverside-Orange County Area CPI. The actual assessment levied in any fiscal year will be approved by the City Council and may not exceed the maximum assessment rate. If approved, the City will begin levying assessments in Fiscal Year 2026-27.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION
1. Do not form DBAA 2025-1.
2. Other direction as determined by the City Council.
FISCAL IMPACT
All expenses associated with the Drainage Benefit Assessment Area will be borne by the developer. There will be no fiscal impacts to the General Fund.
ATTACHMENTS
DBAA 2025-1 Public Hearing Resolution
DBAA 2025-1 Ballot Results Resolution
DBAA 2025-1 Maintenance Exhibit (available in City Clerk's Reading File) DBAA 2025-1 Engineer's Report (available in City Clerk's Reading File)