An exchange project to recognize the region’s history

Plans to build homes on the site of the Santa Clarita Valley’s popular biweekly swap meet will pay homage to the property’s historic past as Saugus Speedway, city planners announced this week.

The Santa Clarita Planning Commission expects to hear about two projects Tuesday at its July monthly meeting.

The first project would involve plans for the land currently occupied by the Saugus Swap Meet, the second a real estate subdivision in Newhall.

Plans for the highway site call for “318 residential units and an industrial component with an approximately 127,000 square foot light manufacturing building on the subject property,” according to the meeting agenda.

“The meeting will provide the community and the Planning Commission with an opportunity to receive a presentation of the project, discuss the project and ask questions of the applicant and staff,” city officials said.

The agenda also calls for staff to hear comments on Integral Communities’ plans for the 35-acre property and then prepare a response to any concerns for the commission’s September meeting.

The neighborhood would include four residential planning zones on about 28 acres, with 122 detached single-family condos and 196 attached townhomes — 22 identified as affordable to low-income households.

“The residential portion would also include several on-site amenities for residents, including a swimming pool, spa, bathroom, barbecue grills, picnic tables, dog park, toddler playground, chess tables, fire pit and community garden,” according to the city.

For the fifth zone, the industrial component would include 116,790 square feet of light manufacturing or warehouse space and 10,000 square feet of office/mezzanine space with a maximum building height of 39 feet.

Doug Bonelli, who is currently listed as the owner of the exchange market land, said earlier this month that he could only guarantee the outdoor market would operate through the end of July.

The agenda item provides a brief overview of the Bonelli family’s long-standing involvement in the field.

Formerly the Saugus Speedway, its roots date back to 1926 when a rodeo was first held there.

This continued until the 1950s, but by 1939, track car racing had also become a local tradition.

The track was paved in 1956, but after the 1994 earthquake the stands were deemed unsafe and were subsequently razed.

“Although the subject property has a diverse history as an entertainment venue, the Saugus Speedway site is not listed as a historic site under the City of Santa Clarita’s Historic Preservation Ordinance,” officials said. “The Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society provided a letter commending the applicant for the inclusion of project design features to honor the Saugus Speedway, such as naming residential streets after legendary racecar drivers and incorporating the checkered flag color scheme into the community park.”

Site preparation and grading is expected to begin in late 2024 and be completed by December 2025, with construction of the building beginning in 2026 and spanning more than four to five years, according to documents on the city’s agenda.

The South Coast Air Quality Management District expressed concern about the industrial component of the project, which generates approximately 600 daily truck trips “in close proximity to existing and new sensitive land uses, as the operation generates and attracts heavy-duty diesel trucks that emit diesel particulate matter,” according to the AQMD’s comments. “When the health impacts of the proposed project are added to existing impacts, current and new residents living in surrounding communities will likely face even greater exposure to air pollution and bear a disproportionate burden of increased health risks.”

Old Orchard Center

The Newhall subdivision on the agenda is a request by Intertex to divide the Old Orchard Center property, a nearly 10-acre commercial tract, into two lots.

No new development or construction is proposed.

Such divisions of plots are often part of an effort to make a property easier to sell, even if there is no indication that this is on the agenda.