Tejon Ranch Criticizes Latest Centennial Lawsuit

Tejon Ranch Co. issued a statement Tuesday criticizing a lawsuit filed by an environmental organization to prevent the company from building its massive Centennial project. Centennial at Tejon Ranch is a master planned community that proposes 19,000 homes and 8.4 million square feet of commercial space on 5,800 acres at the northern edge of Los Angeles County. The L.A. County Board of Supervisors approved it earlier this month. The suit by the Center for Biological Diversity in Tucson, Ariz. asks the court to invalidate the project’s approval and environmental impact report and halt any construction until a “lawful approval” is obtained. It was filed Tuesday. In its statement, Tejon Ranch noted that the Centennial site is already zoned for residential and commercial development as part of the Antelope Valley Plan approved by the supervisors in 2015. The Center for Biological Diversity has already sued Los Angeles County to overturn the approval of the Antelope Valley Plan, but lost at both the superior and appellate court level. “It’s clear that this latest lawsuit by CBD is simply another blatant attempt to delay development of Centennial, which has already been subject to four environmental impact reports,” the statement from Tejon Ranch said. “To stand in the way of an approved development that will bring thousands of much-needed price-attainable homes to Southern California families who are struggling to find housing they can afford is yet one more stark example of CBD’s ‘my-way-or-the-highway’ mentality.” Shares of Tejon Ranch (TRC) closed Wednesday up 1 cent, or a fraction of a percent, to $16.37 on the New York Stock Exchange.