Canyon View Mobile Home Estates hillside solar panel installation in Canyon Country. | Photo: Stephen K. Peeples
City, Canyon View Estates Diverge on Solar Panel System Removal
Uploaded: , Friday, Jul 23, 2021
By Ken Pfalzgraf
The city of Santa Clarita and Canyon View Estates have proposed two differing judgments in court filings this month on the matter of a solar panel system at the Canyon Country mobile home park.
Both sides proposed their desired outcomes for the case in response to a
judge’s ruling last month that the mobile home park violated a 50% open space requirement on its property when it installed 6,000 solar panels on nearly 3 acres.
Santa Clarita City Council members continued their deliberations on the future of council elections Tuesday during a closed session special meeting.
The City Council has not publicly met about the possibility of transitioning to district-based elections due to litigation alleging that the city’s current “at-large” elections dilute the votes of Santa Clarita’s Latino community, comprising one-third of city residents.
Tuesday marked the fourth time since late May that the lawsuit appeared on the City Council’s special closed session meeting agenda. Each time, City Attorney Joseph Montes did not have a report on the item during the public session.
Santa Clarita City Council members are set to discuss in a closed session Tuesday their ongoing legal battle with property owner Canyon View Limited over the 2.5 acres of solar panels on a Canyon Country hillside.
In September 2018 the city filed a complaint against the property owner alleging it violated the city’s municipal code and maintained a public nuisance with the “unpermitted and unauthorized” 120,000-square-foot solar energy project.
Canyon View has argued that it does not have to comply with permits or Santa Clarita’s building codes because it is solely governed by the state, which oversees all mobile home parks.