Placerita Canyon residents press city over Master's University housing, council directs staff to review options

Residents of Placerita Canyon told the Santa Clarita City Council that purchases of nearby homes and widespread conversions to student housing are harming neighborhood safety, traffic and infrastructure — and urged the city to enforce The Master's University’s existing master plan and the city’s residential high‑occupancy permitting process.

At public comment, several Placerita Canyon homeowners said the university (described in testimony as "Masters" or "The Master's University") has purchased dozens of homes near the canyon and converted many into student housing without community input. Chris Townsley, who said he has lived in Placerita Canyon for more than 32 years, told the council that "Masters ... has purchased at least 20 residential low zone Placerita homes and other Canyon property at cost of net nearly $50,000,000" and that the university is using residential high‑occupancy permits to house students in multiple private homes. Penny Hand said later in comments that "approximately 40 plus homes have been purchased" and that "at least 21 of these have been converted into high occupancy student housing." Residents raised safety concerns including overcrowding, fire risk, and unfamiliar drivers on narrow canyon roads.

City response and council direction City Manager Ken told the council the city has met repeatedly with the university and that the residential high‑occupancy permit is currently the primary local tool to regulate the use of houses for student housing. He said the city has told the university it needs to resubmit any changes through a formal master‑plan process and that staff expected a resubmittal "early this year" but had no firm timeline. "We've been assured by masters that they will be resubmitting their master plan," the city manager said.

Council members expressed sympathies with the residents and asked staff and the city attorney to look for any additional legal options the city might have. Councilwoman Marsha McLean and others asked staff to investigate current occupancy limits for single‑family houses and the scope of the residential high‑occupancy permit. The city attorney described recent state legislation as constraining some local land‑use authority, but also confirmed the city retains enforcement tools tied to the permit conditions.

What the council did and did not do Council members did not enact an immediate moratorium or ordinance at Tuesday's meeting. Several council members said they want staff to do preliminary legal analysis and to report back, and they suggested the item could be taken up at a future council or development committee meeting. The city manager reiterated that the city would continue pressing the university to follow the formal master‑plan resubmission process and to meet with the community during that resubmittal.

Ending Residents asked the council to place stronger limits on conversions and to require the university to honor its previously approved 2009 master plan. City staff said they will continue outreach to the university and will return with legal options and clarifications of permit conditions for council consideration.