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Exhibit 99
NEWS RELEASE
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[NEWHALL LAND LOGO] THE NEWHALL LAND AND FARMING COMPANY
----- 23823 Valencia Blvd.
* Valencia, CA 91355 * (661) 255-4000
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Marcia Ward
The Newhall Land and
Farming Company
(661) 255-4445
Fred Mickaelian, Jr.
Mickaelian Associates
(323) 268-1152
NEWHALL RANCH RULING RECEIVED
SIX ISSUES IDENTIFIED FOR FURTHER ANALYSIS
VALENCIA, California, June 1, 2000 - The Newhall Land and Farming Company
(NYSE, PSE/NHL) today announced that Judge Roger Randall has ruled on the
Newhall Ranch lawsuit. In his ruling, rendered late yesterday afternoon, Judge
Randall referred the following issues back for further environmental review,
which will include additional public hearings before Los Angeles County: impact
on the Salt Creek wildlife corridor in Ventura County, extension of traffic
analysis in Ventura County, biological impacts on the river corridor based on
the Specific Plan's floodplain modifications, consistency with the General Plan
in Significant Ecological Area (SEA) 23, how creekflows owned by Newhall Land
can be stored and used for the project, and an alternative to the siting of the
water reclamation plant.
"The court ruled in our favor on many of the major issues raised by the
opponents including the identification of water sources, protection of SEA 20
and SEA 23, the Subdivision Map Act claims, analysis of project alternatives,
and analysis of biological impacts and mitigation of those impacts," said Thomas
L. Lee, chairman and chief executive officer of Newhall Land. "Based on our
initial review of the ruling, we are confident that we can resolve the issues
over the next year, which is likely to delay the start of the project until
2003."
"We have not had the opportunity to fully evaluate the ruling and our
options, but we intend to do so and will address the issues raised
expeditiously. We are very focused on bringing this new community on line
quickly to address Los Angeles' critical need for housing."
-more-
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Newhall Land is a developer of new towns and master-planned communities
in north Los Angeles County. Its primary activity is building the new town of
Valencia, California. Newhall Ranch, its next new town, and Valencia together
form one of the nation's most valuable landholdings. They are located on the
Company's 36,000 acres, 30 miles north of downtown Los Angeles. Newhall Land
also has a 50.1 percent interest in a joint venture to develop the 1,900-acre
City Ranch, an approved master-planned community in the City of Palmdale.
The Company maintains a web site at http://www.newhall.com through the
Internet.
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