A tug-of-war is ongoing over plans to build a new Southern California town on land that's 8 times the size of San Francisco

David McNew/AP

A winding road on Tejon Ranch, outside of LA County.

• Los Angeles County is revisiting a plan to turn one of its few remaining expanses of undeveloped land into a 12,000-acre, mixed-use community.
• The project has incited criticism among environmental groups, who fear rising pollution levels and the destruction of natural habits.
• Developers argue the project could be a solution to LA's housing crisis, though only 10% of new units will be made affordable to low-income families.

Los Angeles is dealing with ever-increasing traffic, congestion, and housing prices.

In spite of that, a new planned suburban oasis outside the sprawling city is attracting controversy. After decades of opposition from environmental groups, the county is revisiting a plan to transform Tejon Ranch, the largest contiguous expanse of privately owned land in the state, into a mixed-used development featuring a business park and more than 19,000 residential units.

At 270,000 acres, the entire property is eight times the size of San Francisco. But the county will only have 12,000 acres to work with, following a deal it struck with an environmental coalition a decade ago.

Under the agreement, the project's developer, Tejon Ranch Co., is required to conserve 90% of privately owned wilderness. Some of that land (62,000 acres) will be divvied up between a state park, space for local habitat tours, and the Pacific Crest Trail, among other things.

At the time of the agreement, Bill Corcoran - now a regional campaign director at the Sierra Club - described the deal as "the ecological equivalent of the Louisiana Purchase."

Even with organizations like the Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council, and Endangered Habitats League on board, the plan continues to garner scrutiny among environmentalists. On the one hand, they argue that new construction could destroy hundreds of native plant species and thousands of acres of habitat. On the other, they fear that a suburban community would encourage the use of cars, further driving up pollution levels and greenhouse gas emissions.

Their concerns are shared by many urbanists, who see suburban development as a way to avoid much-needed solutions to issues like gentrification, housing affordability, and zoning restrictions.

But proponents of the development, known as Tejon Centennial, argue that it provides a new set of options for buyers in LA County. The development includes plenty of open space, in addition to 10 million square feet of commercial property.

The development will also feature a school, sheriff's and fire stations, public parks, and its own waste-management system.

Developers are planning to provide transit options, like buses or shared-ride services, for people commuting into the city. The end-goal is to create a self-sufficient community that maintains its urban access.

The project is being heralded by developers as a solution to LA's affordable housing shortage - a claim that doesn't quite hold up. Though Tejon Ranch has committed to making 10% of its units affordable, the LA Times reports that a single-family unit at Tejon Centennial costs anywhere from $425,000 to $550,000. This is only slightly lower than the median home price in LA County, and a far cry from being considered "affordable" for low-income families.

A 2015 report from the California Association of Realtors found that a family earning $54,510 in LA County could afford no more than $275,530 for a home.

To truly address its housing crisis, LA County will need to build nearly 570,000 units for low-income families - around 300 times what Tejon Ranch has set aside.