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   XPost: sac.politics, alt.politics.democrats, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh   
   XPost: alt.politics   
      
   After years of fighting against the California high-speed rail   
   project, the city of Santa Clarita is planning a regional   
   approach to the battle, hoping to band together with nearby   
   communities to strengthen a joint cause.   
      
   City officials said last week they have joined forces with   
   Acton, Agua Dulce and the city of San Fernando to forge the   
   “North L.A. County Communities Protection Coalition” — a   
   cooperative effort between those who share similar concerns with   
   the project and wish to make them known to the California High-   
   Speed Rail Authority.   
      
   “They need to listen,” said Santa Clarita Mayor Marsha McLean of   
   the rail authority. “They need to understand that pitting one   
   community against another is not going to fly with us.”   
      
   Residents in the Santa Clarita Valley and some northern reaches   
   of the San Fernando Valley have found themselves at odds in   
   recent months as rail planners examine ways to route the   
   controversial bullet train from Burbank to Palmdale.   
      
   Some routes under consideration would run through the Santa   
   Clarita Valley, while others would avoid the area but pass   
   through communities in the northern San Fernando Valley.   
      
   Common ground   
   While residents in both valleys may differ on their preferred   
   rail routes, they largely share the same concerns: Namely, how   
   the bullet train could effect the environment, their   
   neighborhoods and their ways of life.   
      
   “We understand what Santa Clarita residents are fighting   
   against, and we’re fighting against the same things,” said Dave   
   DePinto, president of the Shadow Hills Property Owners   
   Association and a representative for a group called Save Angeles   
   Forest for Everyone, or SAFE.   
      
   SAFE is a group formed from residents and leaders in a   
   collection of San Fernando Valley communities, including Shadow   
   Hills, Lake View Terrace, Kagel Canyon, La Tuna Canyon,   
   Sunland/Tujunga and Sun Valley.   
      
   A motto of the group is: “Don’t Railroad our Communities.”   
      
   Working together   
   McLean said it’s not the city’s goal, nor the aim of its   
   recently formed coalition, to merely force the train out of the   
   Santa Clarita Valley at whatever cost.   
      
   “We’re saying make sure it doesn’t impact them, either,” she   
   said, referring to the communities in the San Fernando Valley.   
      
   Both Santa Clarita officials and DePinto said they’ve recently   
   met and expressed interest in working together on the rail issue.   
      
   Chief among their shared goals: Make sure the train is put   
   underground wherever it runs.   
      
   “We would not wish what we’ve gone through on any community,”   
   DePinto said. “We would not wish these above-ground structures   
   on any community anywhere.”   
      
   Palmdale to Burbank   
   Officials from the California High-Speed Rail Authority are   
   continuing to examine ways to run the bullet train from Burbank   
   to Palmdale.   
      
   Two route options plotted out by the High-Speed Rail Authority   
   would pass through the so-called “SR 14” Corridor that largely   
   follows the path of Highway 14 through the Santa Clarita Valley.   
      
   One alternative calls for running the train in a tunnel   
   virtually all the way through Santa Clarita. Local residents and   
   officials say if the train runs through Santa Clarita, it needs   
   to be put underground.   
      
   In the other option, the train would come out of a tunnel in the   
   Sand Canyon area of Canyon Country.   
      
   That, city officials say, would devastate homes, businesses, a   
   church and two schools in the Sand Canyon area.   
      
   East corridor   
   The City Council’s preference, however, is for the train to   
   travel an alternative “East Corridor” being looked at by high-   
   speed rail officials.   
      
   That route is a more direct path between Palmdale and Burbank,   
   but would involve tunneling under the San Gabriel Mountains.   
      
   It would also involve passing through some of the communities   
   that make up SAFE.   
      
   DePinto said residents of those communities have concerns   
   similar to the ones raised in the Santa Clarita Valley,   
   including whether the project could put homes and businesses at   
   risk, affect water supplies or increase the risk of seismic   
   activity.   
      
   Perhaps more than anything, DePinto said, there’s the worry that   
   the project “would change the character of our community.”   
      
   Meeting   
   The city is holding what it describes as an “emergency” meeting   
   on the high-speed rail project at 7 p.m. Monday in the gym at   
   Canyon High School.   
      
   “This is the chance for our public here in Santa Clarita to   
   weigh in if they’re opposed to high-speed rail,” said City   
   Councilman TimBen Boydston.   
      
   City officials say they hope residents from surrounding   
   communities will show up in force, as well.   
      
   For more information on the meeting, visit santa-clarita.com/HSR.   
      
   Lmoney@signalscv.com   
   661-287-5525   
   On Twitter @LukeMMoney   
      
   http://www.signalscv.com/section/36/article/135898/   
      
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