Sand Canyon Venues · Part 4 · Public Records

Three “Temporary” Permits, One Permanent Wedding Business: How Santa Clarita Approved The Barn at Rancho Deluxe Without a Hearing — While Opening Cases on Its Neighbors

The City’s own file, produced under the Public Records Act, shows a film-studio barn in an Open Space zone where any unlisted use is prohibited, three one-year staff-level wedding permits since 2022, a 296-seat assembly room certified under a 200-guest cap, a permanent “Weddings and Events” sign the permit forbids — and a fresh permit accepted nine days after this publication’s complaints reached City Hall.

By I. Martinez, Good Shepherd Media · Santa Clarita · November 10, 2026

The sign at the gate

At the southwest corner of Sand Canyon Road and Placerita Canyon Road, a carved wooden sign reads RANCHO DELUXE — 661-252-FILM — THE BARN — WEDDINGS AND EVENTS — 661-360-3010. On October 24, 2026, two campaign banners hung on the fence beside it: one for Councilmember Jason Gibbs’s congressional campaign, one for SCV Water Director Bill Cooper. Behind the fence is a 9,381-square-foot barn the City approved in 2017 as a film-support building.

For six weeks Good Shepherd Media has asked the City of Santa Clarita why this venue — the only one of four Sand Canyon wedding operations promoted on the City’s own tourism website — carried no code-enforcement case while its three neighbors did. On November 5 the City Clerk’s office posted ten documents on Public Records Request #11269737. They answer that question, and raise a harder one.

What the City’s file shows

2017 — a barn for filming. Master Case 17-080 (Development Review 17-004), approved November 2, 2017, authorized a “custom barn” for Back 40, LLC, the Arklin family entity that owns the parcel. The building permit issued August 1, 2018 describes a “film services assembly building.” The Certificate of Occupancy issued October 26, 2020 classifies it F-1 — film studio — with a 44-person occupant load, plus office and conference space. The City’s own 2024 conditions put it plainly: the original approval “did not permit wedding events,” and the owner “did not intend to host wedding events at the site.”

2022 — the first wedding permit. On July 6, 2022, an assistant planner approved Temporary Use Permit 21-039 (Master Case 21-182) “to host wedding events” for one year.

2024 — the second. On August 12, 2024, Temporary Use Permit 24-012 (Master Case 24-129) renewed the use for another year with specific limits: no more than two weddings a month; no more than 200 attendees; written notice to the City seven days before every event; valet parking for any wedding over fifty guests; no parking on Sand Canyon Road; music off by 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and midnight Friday and Saturday; proof of a Los Angeles County business license, Alcoholic Beverage Control licensing, County Health and Fire approvals. Two conditions bear on what stands at the gate today: “Signs are not a part of this approval” (PL15), and “No permanent structures or permanent signage shall be erected on the subject property with this permit” (PL17). A third gives the City the right to “revise, modify or revoke” the permit on community complaints (PL11).

2025 — a 296-seat assembly room. On September 19, 2025, Building and Safety issued a new Certificate of Occupancy (BLD23-02258) reclassifying a 4,434-square-foot “multipurpose room” inside the barn as A-3 assembly for 296 occupants. The wedding permit in force that month capped attendance at 200.

2026 — the third permit, nine days after our complaints. Good Shepherd Media’s written complaints naming the Barn reached the City on September 13 and 16, 2026. On September 23, 2026, the permittee signed the acceptance form for Temporary Use Permit 26-024 (Master Case 26-132); it was notarized the next day. The City produced the acceptance form but not the permit’s conditions.

What the City’s Code says

The parcel — Assessor’s number 2848-012-032, 4.18 acres — sits in the City’s Movie Ranch overlay, according to the City’s own GIS. The overlay’s purpose is to keep filmmaking alive on the old Sand Canyon ranches, and it gives film production generous by-right privileges. It also allows “special events” within set hours and, by temporary use permit, outside them. But its first rule about everything else is unambiguous. Section 17.38.040(B): “All uses shall be subject to the requirements of the underlying zone, with the exception of film production activities.”

The underlying zone is OS-A, Open Space–Agriculture. Section 17.36.020 of the Unified Development Code lists what that zone allows — horses, crops, riding trails, a single-family home, recording studios by conditional use permit — and then states: “Any use not listed is considered a prohibited use in this zone.” No banquet facility, assembly use, event venue or wedding use appears on the list. The closest category, “Recreation, Commercial—Recreation Facilities,” requires a Conditional Use Permit, which under the Code is a Class IV application decided after a noticed public hearing.

The City’s temporary-use rules draw the same line from the other direction. Section 17.67.030(R) lets the Director approve “other temporary uses” only if they “do not exceed one (1) year in duration and do not require the construction of any permanent structures.” Section 17.67.030(S): “Temporary uses in excess of one (1) year, but less than five (5) years, will be subject to a Class IV extended-term temporary use permit” — again, a public hearing. The Code provides no temporary-use route at all for a use that runs five years or longer.

The Barn’s wedding use began under a temporary permit in July 2022. The permit accepted this September carries it into a fifth year. Each of the three permits was a one-year, Class II, staff-signed approval. None went to a hearing. The City has not said whether neighbors were ever notified.

One more number from the overlay chapter: Section 17.38.040(D)(1) sets the minimum lot size inside the Movie Ranch overlay at “fifty (50) contiguous acres.” The barn parcel is 4.18.

Three neighbors, three cases — and one permit

In the same weeks the City issued the Barn its third temporary permit, it confirmed in writing that it had open zoning cases against the other three Sand Canyon venues this publication has documented: CE-26-1844 at 27634 Rolling Hills Avenue, where a “Sikhs of Service — A Religious Tax Exempt Corporation” sign went up on a parcel the County Assessor shows with no exemption; CE-26-1754 at 27351 Triumph Avenue; CE-24-1955 at 27415 Triumph Avenue, where a 200-guest wedding was filmed on October 18; and CE-26-1755 at 26505 Josel Drive. The City has refused to release those files, citing the Public Records Act’s investigatory exemption.

The difference between the three and the one is not the zoning. All four sit on rural-residential or open-space parcels where a commercial wedding business is not a listed use. The difference is that one of them holds a Director-signed temporary permit, renewed twice, and the City’s tourism arm promotes it.

The contributions

Federal Election Commission records show that Stephen H. Arklin, whose employer is listed as Rancho Deluxe, and Diane Arklin each contributed $3,500 — $7,000 in total, the legal maximum for the primary — to Jason Gibbs for Congress on September 29, 2025. Mr. Gibbs is a sitting member of the Santa Clarita City Council. His banner hung on the Barn’s fence on October 24 and again on October 29, 2026.

The contributions are lawful and publicly reported. Political signs on private property are protected speech. Good Shepherd Media does not allege that any contribution was made or received in exchange for any City action, and does not allege that any official has committed a crime. California’s Levine Act, Government Code section 84308, bars a party to a permit proceeding from giving an agency officer more than $250 during the proceeding and for a year afterward, and requires an officer who received such a contribution to disclose it and step aside. Whether the City treats a federal campaign contribution as a contribution under that statute, and whether any Rancho Deluxe matter has come before Mr. Gibbs or been discussed between him and staff, are among the questions now before the City in writing. Mr. Gibbs was asked for comment on October 29 and has not responded.

What the City has been asked

On November 9 and November 10, Good Shepherd Media put the record above to the City Manager, the City Clerk and Community Preservation in writing and asked for answers by 5:00 p.m. Monday, November 16: under what provision a year-round wedding business is a permitted use in OS-A; why three one-year staff permits were issued for a use the Code sends to a public hearing after the first year; who approved Master Case 26-132, on what date, and whether anyone in the City Manager’s office or on the Council communicated with Planning about the property between September 13 and 23; whether a sign permit exists for the permanent “Weddings and Events” sign; how many seven-day wedding notices the City has received since 2022, and how many complaints; and how the City explains three cases for the neighbors and a permit for the Barn.

Good Shepherd Media has also formally requested that the City determine in writing whether Temporary Use Permit 26-024 was lawfully issued; suspend it and require a noticed Class IV hearing if it was not; open a Community Preservation case on the permanent signage and on the use of a 296-seat assembly room under a 200-guest permit; and remove the venue from the Visit Santa Clarita listings until the use is lawfully entitled. Under California law a land use that violates a zoning ordinance is a public nuisance per se, abatable without proof of particular harm — the principle the City itself applied when it opened cases on the Barn’s neighbors.

As of publication the City has answered none of the press questions put to it on this subject since September. Every letter has been logged as a public-records request and extended. The City Clerk’s office opened the November 9 letter at 11:56 p.m. that night. The City’s answers, or its silence, will be published on November 17.

The Barn at Rancho Deluxe was asked for comment on October 29 and again on October 31, with a deadline of November 4. It has not responded. Any response from the venue, the Arklin family, Councilmember Gibbs or the City will be published in full.

The public record

All documents below were produced by the City of Santa Clarita on Public Records Request #11269737, or retrieved from the City’s GIS and the Los Angeles County Assessor on the dates shown. They are reproduced without alteration.

• Exhibit A — Temporary Use Permit 24-012 (Master Case 24-129), Conditions of Approval, August 12, 2024. [UPLOAD: 11-RECORD-City-TUP24-012-Barn-Wedding-Conditions-MC24-129.pdf]
• Exhibit B — Certificates of Occupancy: October 26, 2020 (F-1 film studio, 44 occupants) and September 19, 2025 (A-3 assembly, 296 occupants). [UPLOAD: 12-RECORD-City-Certificates-of-Occupancy-26075-Sand-Canyon-2020-and-2025.pdf]
• Exhibit C — Temporary Use Permit 26-024 (Master Case 26-132), acceptance form signed September 23, 2026. [UPLOAD: 13-RECORD-City-TUP26-024-Acceptance-Form-MC26-132-2026-09-23.pdf]
• Exhibit D — Master Case 17-080 approval letter, November 2, 2017, and Master Case 21-182 / TUP 21-039, July 6, 2022. [UPLOAD from zip: CD – MC 17-080 Approval Letter 11-2-17.pdf; MC21-182 Approval.pdf]
• Exhibit E — City of Santa Clarita GIS parcel record, APN 2848-012-032: zoning OS-A, overlay MR, annexed April 16, 2013 (retrieved November 10, 2026). [UPLOAD: PROOF-13 text as image or quote]
• Exhibit F — Photographs, October 24, 2026, taken from the public right-of-way: the permanent entrance sign; campaign banners on the fence. [UPLOAD: Barn-permanent-sign-Weddings-and-Events-2026-10-24.jpg; Barn-fence-campaign-banners-2026-10-24-A.jpg]
• Exhibit G — FEC Schedule A, Jason Gibbs for Congress (C00909887), contributions of Stephen H. Arklin and Diane Arklin, September 29, 2025. fec.gov

Video, recorded by a resident from the public right-of-way:
The Barn at Rancho Deluxe — campaign banners, October 29, 2026: youtu.be/sUIufkJbckM
The Barn at Rancho Deluxe — earlier footage: youtu.be/98lRxZEHBoo · youtu.be/HaTU0ZONCT8 · youtu.be/dPoXxxphwJE
27634 Rolling Hills Avenue — the “Sikhs of Service” sign, October 29, 2026: youtu.be/MlpyuiKm3PE
27415 Triumph Avenue — wedding, October 18, 2026: youtu.be/i4K6BFq-kBY

Code citations are to the Santa Clarita Unified Development Code as published at ecode360.com on November 10, 2026: §§ 17.36.020, 17.38.040, 17.23.200, 17.25.100, 17.67.030. An open code-enforcement case is an allegation, not a finding. Good Shepherd Media’s prior reports in this series: Rolling Hills Avenue · Thirty-nine days.