A developer is hosting a pair of community meetings next week on the former Smiser Mule Ranch property, which has been proposed for a 379-unit mixed-use development with a senior living facility with another 217 units. The Santa Clarita Planning Commission asked the developer at a March meeting to conduct additional community outreach after concerns were raised about traffic and circulation around the 31-acre Wiley Canyon property. The comment period has already ended for the project’s environmental impact report, but project developer Tom Clark said any concerns raised at the meetings, which are set to happen on two nights, at 6 p.
m. Monday and Tuesday, will be addressed in the process. He said the meetings would be for the homeowner associations, nearby mobile home park residents or anyone else who might have a question about the project.
The Interstate 5 corridor between the freeway and Wiley Canyon, starting just north of Calgrove Boulevard, has been the subject of a number of plans since it hosted the ranch started by Sam Smiser, a home for mules that famously pulled Rose Parade floats. After the ranch closed and was then sold in 2004, the project was eyed for a 600,000-square-foot development that would have added about 1,000 condo units to the area in a mixed-use development. Jason Crawford, director of community development for the city of Santa Clarita, said residents balked at the proposal at the time, which ultimately resulted in amendments to the general plan th.