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2. Environmental Setting

2.1 PROJECT LOCATION

As shown in Figure 1, Regional Location, the 2,173-acre Skyline Ranch project site is in the community of
Canyon Country in the Santa Clarita Valley of unincorporated Los Angeles County. The project site is north
of Highway 14 (Antelope Valley Freeway) and the City of Santa Clarita. The site includes undeveloped
parcels west of Sierra Highway between the Santa Clara River and Vasquez Canyon. Figure 2, Local Vicinity,
shows the site roughly bounded by the Sierra Highway (Mint Canyon) to the east and southeast, residential
communities in the City of Santa Clarita to the south and southwest, Plum Canyon Road to the west,
Bouquet Canyon Road to the northwest, and Vasquez Canyon Road to the northeast.

Primary access to the project site is provided by the proposed extension of Whites Canyon Road (as Skyline
Ranch Road) from Plum Canyon on the western boundary of the site and by Skyline Ranch Road and Sierra
Highway in the southeast corner of the project site.

2.2 ENVIRONMENTAL SETTING

2.2.1 Existing Land Use

The project site is completely vacant and undeveloped. The site is dominated by irregular, brush-covered
terrain with ridges between Plum Canyon to the north and Whites Canyon to the south.

Additionally, a substantial portion of the Cruzan Mesa Vernal Pools Significant Ecological Area (SEA) is in
the northern two-thirds of the project site. This SEA was adopted by the County as part of the Santa Clarita
Valley Area Plan Update: One Valley One Vision in November 2012. SEAs are officially designated areas
within the County for their biological value. The Cruzan Mesa Vernal Pools SEA includes mesas, canyons,
and interior slopes supporting coastal sage scrub or scrub-chaparral vegetation. The Cruzan Mesa vernal pool
complex lies within an elevated, topographically enclosed basin atop an eroded foothill between Mint and
Bouquet canyons. The Plum Canyon vernal pool, situated in a landslide depression on a hillside terrace, is
smaller than the Cruzan Mesa pools, but possesses the same essential vernal pool characteristics as the larger
system, and the two areas together form an ecologically functional unit. Refer to Section 5.4, Biological
Resources, for additional information on the Cruzan Mesa Vernal Pools SEA.

2.2.2 Surrounding Land Use

Surrounding uses near the project site include undeveloped, open space to the north and northeast, existing
and planned residential uses in the City of Santa Clarita and unincorporated Los Angeles County to the south
and west, and residential uses in the community of Forest Park to the east near Sierra Highway.

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