Officials from Habitat For Humanity San Fernando/Santa Clarita Valleys  want to build affordable housing in Newhall, but have run up against resistance to the idea from Santa Clarita planners.

Planners say the nonprofit’s proposed 16 homes on Kansas Street near Lyons Avenue would be too cluttered and plain for the surrounding neighborhood.

“Frankly, we suspect there would be a significant number of neighborhood complaints,” said Santa Clarita Community Development Director Paul Brotzman.

He said the density, design and financing would be hard sells for the Planning Commission and the community.

Meanwhile, local Habitat board chair Wayne Colmer said his organization makes quality homes, but the city expects too much from the nonprofit.

“They want the project gold-plated,” Colmer said. “This is an affordable housing project. It’s not a luxury housing development in Valencia. Our Habitat projects are nice homes. They’re not down and dirty homes. But they’re not luxury housing either.”

Habitat is “desperately looking” for new properties, he said.

The site at 24514 Kansas St. would have been the nonprofit’sfirst project in the Santa Clarita Valley.

“We thought it was ideal for a Habitat project,” Colmer said. “But the city has put up a lot of obstacles.”

Handpicked location
Habitat board member Bill Kennedy also serves as a member of the Santa Clarita Planning Commission. He said that city planners — who are staff members, as opposed to City Council-appointed planning commissioners — have discouraged Habitat for Humanity.

“Basically, the Habitat For Humanity board is taking this as a rejection at this stage,” Kennedy said. “We need 16 units on the place to make it pencil out, but (city) staff came back and asked for 12.”

Finding a suitable location for an affordable housing project is tough, Kennedy said.

And in the Newhall location, Habitat for Humanity found a place that met all of its standards.

“The area has to be right, near public transit, relatively inexpensive, the architecture and type of homes would have to be compatible with the local area. All of those things came together at this plot.”

Funding and history
Another problem is funding, Brotzman said. Habitat For Humanity is asking the city to support its project with an estimated $2.7 million in Santa Clarita Redevelopment Agency money.

”We think we could get better bang for the buck” by moving forward with a different nonprofit agency, Brotzman said.

But before anything else can be addressed, there’s the question of whether the property that Habitat for Humanity San Fernando/Santa Clarita Valleys chose can be used at all.

Perched on the property now is a potentially historic building: a former schoolhouse that was also home to some of the Santa Clarita Valley’s turn-of-the-century movers and shakers.

The Santa Clarita City Council will consider adopting a historical preservation ordinance in the fall. With it, the council may adopt a list of historic buildings to be preserved. The house on Kansas Street is on the city’s short list for consideration.

And for good reason, said Pat Saletore, the Santa Clarita Valley Historical Foundation’s executive director. The building was one of the first schoolhouses in Santa Clarita, she said.

Kennedy said he was disappointed the Kansas Street property may not work out. The nonprofit agency recently added Santa Clarita Valley to its name.