Expanded enterprise zone passes hurdle

January 31, 2012

By Karen Jonas, Signal Staff Writer

The expanded Santa Clarita Valley Enterprise Zone took two steps closer to reality on Tuesday as Los Angeles County supervisors approved two aspects of the program.

Members of the Board of Supervisors unanimously agreed to designate the city of Santa Clarita as the administrator of the Santa Clarita Valley Enterprise Zone.

They also found that the zone would not have a significant impact on the environment, according to information from the county's community development commission.

The environmental study was one of the state's requirements for the expansion, said Jonas Peterson, president and CEO of the Santa Clarita Valley Economic Development Corp.

Unlike the smaller existing enterprise zone, the new Santa Clarita Valley Enterprise Zone will take in parts of unincorporated Los Angeles County.

Enterprise zones are designed to stimulate growth in economically distressed areas throughout the state by generating new private-sector growth and investment.

This is achieved by offering performance-based tax credits and incentives to businesses located within the enterprise zone, according to information from the Community Development Commission of Los Angeles County.

Santa Clarita has been seeking to expand the zone to include other parts of the Santa Clarita Valley, including unincorporated county land.

Under the expanded zone, the city will partner with Los Angeles County and the Santa Clarita Valley Economic Development Corporation to market and promote the program to local businesses.

If approved, the Santa Clarita Valley Enterprise Zone will encompass 4,700 acres of commercial and industrial land in unincorporated areas of the Santa Clarita Valley, as well as parts of the city of Santa Clarita, according to information from the Community Development Commission.

City and county officials will be considering different parts of the enterprise zone expansion before the state's deadline on April 10, said Peterson.

"We are just trying to make sure that we have everything submitted and everything voted on before the April 10," he said.

In addition to the board's actions on Tuesday, county officials are expected to finalize the street ranges and the final map before April, said Peterson. The city will also be voting on boundaries.

Businesses that join the Santa Clarita Valley Enterprise Zone will be able to retroactively receive the benefits of the program from Jan. 1, 2011, once it is finalized, said Peterson.

Laura Biery, administrative analyst for the city of Santa Clarita, said the Santa Clarita City Council is expected to vote on aspects of the Enterprise Zone program at its meeting Feb. 28.

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