BUILDERS TURN TO THE INTERNET WEB SITES INFORM PUBLIC, ENTICE POTENTIAL BUYERS.

Byline: Joseph Giordono Staff Writer

SIMI VALLEY - Some Web sites sell books, while others market CDs, clothes, toys, collectibles and even cars and homes.

Now there is a Web site promoting a real estate developer's vision of what Simi Valley could become.

During a pitch last week to city planners, representatives of Unocal Land and Development Corp. touted their Internet site, which promotes Alamos Canyon, a proposed industrial and residential project on the western edge of Simi Valley.

The Web site - www.simivalleycanyons.com - features news updates and a schedule of planning meetings, while offering a list of ``public benefits'' the development would offer Simi Valley, including 7,000 new jobs and a nondenominational cemetery site.

``We have been very pleased with the response that we've gotten from the Web site. It allows us to go straight to the public with our concepts and get feedback directly from them,'' said Unocal spokesman Barry Lane. ``It is a relatively cheap and effective way to accomplish that.''

As industrial and residential developers make multimillion-dollar bets on increasingly scarce and costly real estate, some are using the Internet to promote their project and, they hope, smooth the bureaucratic path from concept drawings to concrete buildings.

``I see the developer Web sites as primarily another method to inform people in the community that this process is going on,'' said Sam Freed, a senior planner for the city.

``The city has a Web site where we post updated information on planning decisions and committee meetings, so I would think it would make sense for the development company to do the same thing. And it is just another way for the developer to get some attention.''

Builders cite a presence on the Web as an effective way to create interest in their developments and a useful means to keep city official and the general public apprised of the latest news.

Unocal officials said the site is intended as both public promotion and as a resource for city planners to see where the company plans to go with the development.

But planning officials they they rely more on formal submissions and meetings to track developments.

Ray Pearl of the Builders Industry Association in Ventura said that while his group has not specifically tracked Web site traffic, members of the association are increasingly using the Internet.

``We are seeing this more and more and more as builders are becoming aware of the benefits of being on the Web,'' Pearl said.

Newhall Land and Farming Company, one of the biggest developers in the region, has also made extensive use of its Web site (www.valencia.com) to promote its developments in the neighboring Santa Clarita Valley.

Spokeswoman Marlee Lauffer said the developer is pleased with the interest generated by the site, which has been increasingly mentioned as the method by which prospective home and business owners get information.

Newhall also receives public feedback via the site, which offers prize giveaways and contact information for the development company.