Santa Clarita City Council members unanimously approved the council’s second look at Riverview, a “mixed-use” plan for nearly 320 homes on acreage previously occupied by the Santa Clarita Swap Meet at Saugus Speedway off Soledad Canyon Road.  The plan calls for 318 homes on 35.2 acres split into five parcels — mostly market-rate, with 22 designated as low-income, including a little less than 3 acres of warehouse space for the commercial component.  Prior to the council’s unanimous consent, Councilwoman Marsha McLean questioned whether there could be more of a mixed-use element in the plan, such as a retail element, which might be more of a service for the residents.   Councilwoman Laurene Weste, who personally appealed the project on the developer’s behalf, argued against asking the developer, Integral Communities, to try to change the plan, saying that type of commercial element would be tough to attract to the property.  Weste also said there’s already retail nearby and an adjacent transit center, so she “hated the idea” of asking for a redesign at this point of the planning process.  The developer refused to meet the Plannning Commission’s request for the project — increasing the number of housing units to meet what the city envisioned for the property, more than double the proposed amount — which is how the project ended up before the council on appeal.  “It’s just that when you continue to approve mixed-use projects without mixed use, it’s just, you know, seems to go against, it goes against my grain,” McLean said. “Because the opportunity for economic development is there, but it’s not being utilized. That’s my comment.”  The post City OKs housing for swap meet lot  appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.