Two weeks ago when the official announcement about the proposed expansion of the Golden Oaks Ranch in the unincorporated area off Placerita Canyon Road was made, which was first reported here on The Beacon, there were several questions raised by readers about the project. For one, how quickly would this project be built and when would the local economic impact kick in.

To truly answer these and other questions one needs to look at how this major regional project got started in the first place. It is important to know the facts that led to last week’s announcement which will bring clarity to how quickly a project like this can move forward.

First and foremost, Disney reached out to Supervisor Antonovich roughly 18 months ago, before there was even a formulated or defined project. They briefed the Supervisor at various stages, and they were in constant contact with County staff as their plans moved forward.

At Disney’s request, information about the project was kept confidential for more than a year. Supervisor Antonovich and County staff convened meetings with department heads and senior managers of involved County departments well ahead of Disney’s filing of the applications. This helped to resolve many issues in advance of the applications being filed with the County.

The County actually worked with Disney to execute a written agreement to assign the Golden Oaks Ranch expansion project to the “Special Projects” division in the County Planning Department. The agreement involved Disney paying the salary of a dedicated planner which is similar to arrangements that were made in the past with area projects like Newhall Ranch and Centennial.

There were several delays along the way in terms of timing on filing the application and naturally word about this project did leak out. This is not unusual considering there were surveyors, geotechnical consultants, and others visiting the ranch property on a regular basis. Those leaks resulted in some at the City of Santa Clarita complaining about being left out of the loop on this project. Due to those leaks and rumors that were floating around the Santa Clarita Valley, Disney project managers briefed the City of Santa Clarita Mayor and City Manager on the project about 3-4 months ago.

This is by far one of the most exciting projects for the Santa Clarita Valley in probably a decade or more thanks to Disney, Supervisor Antonovich and his Staff at the County. It will bring thousands of jobs to the area and have millions in economic impact for the entire Santa Clarita Valley.

With the cooperation between Disney and the County early on there is no doubt that this project will move along as quickly as the process will allow. Since Disney has just filed, they are at the very beginning of the mandated review and approval process which is anticipate to take at least 18 months.

These types of projects usually bring immediate local economic impact once groundbreaking commences and it generally only increases over time. Area businesses which benefit from filming are located in both the City of Santa Clarita and Los Angeles County, and many will surely experience a boost from the increase in activity at the proposed Golden Oaks Ranch studio facility. 

There’s an old saying about how “a rising tide lifts all boats,” and that would mirror Supervisor Antonovich’s approach to “regional” projects; “they benefit regions, not specific cities or unincorporated areas!”