ANTONOVICH A MAGIC BACKER PLAN TO RENAME PARKWAY FOR DEALERS CALLED `ILL-TIMED'.

Byline: CONNIE LLANOS and PATRICIA FARRELL AIDEM Staff Writers

SANTA CLARITA -- Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich is highly critical of a proposal before the city of Santa Clarita to rename Magic Mountain Parkway to identify Valencia's auto dealers.

And his opinion that it's not a good plan is backed by the chatter in local salons as well as the more than 400 residents who have signed a petition to retain the name of a roadway named for the region's best-known landmark.

In a letter sent this week to Santa Clarita Mayor Marsha McLean, Antonovich, whose district covers the Santa Clarita Valley, called the proposal an insult to Six Flags California's Magic Mountain.

He also called it ``ill-timed'' as Magic Mountain, neighboring Hurricane Harbor and several other Six Flags parks nationwide are for sale. There was talk that the local parks would be sold for the valuable real estate they sit upon, but Six Flags announced last week that the theme parks would not be dismantled for development.

The city's goal is to identify the Valencia Auto Center to draw travelers from busy Interstate 5. The two dozen dealerships are about a mile off the freeway so they don't have the commercial visibility to passers-by.

The reasoning is that the auto dealers provide the single-largest source of city revenue. Santa Clarita receives 1 percent of sales tax revenue generated locally -- about $7 million in the second quarter of this year, the most recent figure available.

Hearings on the proposal will be held next month, city spokeswoman Gail Ortiz said.

Antonovich argues that the name change would be a hardship for businesses in the city that would have to change their addresses and thus their stationery, business cards and other items.

Acknowledging that the city has the right to change street names under its jurisdiction, he suggests that the city and the county work together with state legislators instead to add signs along the I-5 directing motorists to the auto center.

Jamee Brandt, manager of Cobblestone Cottage, a boutique on Magic Mountain Parkway, said more than 400 customers have signed a petition against the change. She said Tuesday that she plans to present the petition to the city at a Jan. 11 hearing.

She said she hears talk in hair and nail salons and in other shops about the proposal -- and that nobody seems to favor it.

The change would affect the portion of Magic Mountain Parkway, east of the I-5, in the city's jurisdiction. Just a short stretch leading to the theme parks lies in the county's jurisdiction.

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