By Patric Hedlund, TME

In a classic “war of the dueling headlines,” the Tejon Ranch Company released an announcement to investors and financial outlets Thursday, March 8: “Finish Line in Sight for Efforts to Build Nearly 20,000 Homes in Los Angeles County—Centennial at Tejon Ranch has path to move forward.”

The headline from the two nonprofit environmental groups that filed the lawsuits against Tejon Ranch Company and Los Angeles County reveals an alternate reality: “Judge Blocks Massive Tejon Ranchcorp Development in L.A. County — Centennial Ruling Signals Officials Must Consider California Wildfire Risks.”

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff threw down speed bumps last Tuesday, April 6, for the proposed Centennial housing development between Gorman and…(please see below to view full stories and photographs)

Photo captions:

Above: Tehachapi Mountains were invisible in 2013 as a towering dust storm slammed toward homes near the proposed Centennial project site.

A wall of 150-foot-high flames swept across the grasslands of Lockwood Valley during the Day fire, leaping across fire breaks and roads like a runaway freight train in September 2006. Critics say the Centennial development, spanning wildfire-prone Western Antelope Valley, will be ‘built to burn.’

Inset: This California Highway Patrol officer wears a mask to protect against blowing dust, sand and valley fever spores carried by the wicked Western Antelope Valley windstorms; Above center, and below right: Patrol officers respond to accidents on the treacherous State Route 138 during high winds and sandstorms that block out the sun, along the main route through the proposed Centennial area.

Analysts raise concerns about the 75,000 additional vehicle trips a day that 57,000 residents would bring to Interstate 5 (above right) and Highway 138 (below). At build-out, the full Tejon Ranch development plan, including Tejon Mountain Village, Grapevine and Centennial, could bring over 110,350 new people to live in this Mountain Community.

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This is part of the April 16, 2021 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

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