CITY EYES POSSIBLE PARKLAND; 4,000 ACRES SOUGHT FROM BUILDER CALLED `GORGEOUS'.

Byline: Patricia Farrell Aidem Daily News Staff Writer

Four thousand unblemished acres stretch from the Santa Clara River to the historic town of Mentryville, a swath that would become parkland under an agreement that hinges on approval of the massive Newhall Ranch project.

The Newhall Land and Farming Company has agreed to turn the land over to a joint-powers authority which would be operated by the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, the city of Santa Clarita and Los Angeles County.

The ``high country'' - majestic sweeps of wild land in the Santa Susana Mountains west of Santa Clarita - would be crossed by trails for hikers and equestrians.

``This is a monumental thing for the city to have accomplished,'' Santa Clarita City Councilwoman Laurene Weste said.

``The land is gorgeous,'' added Rick Putnam, Santa Clarita's parks head. ``It would be a tremendous resource to the residents of Newhall Ranch, the Santa Clarita Valley and the entire L.A. Basin. There's a lot of pristine, virgin open space.''

Negotiating for some control over the parkland is a high-stakes game for the city. If Newhall Land agrees to that point, and 13 other concerns raised by Santa Clarita, the City Council likely will drop its opposition to the developer's 23,000-home Newhall Ranch proposal and adopt a neutral stance.

One of those points is that the high country and the Santa Clara River property bordering Newhall Ranch be turned over to the public for recreation, Putnam said.

Newhall Land has agreed to hand over the high country to the joint-powers authority, but the river remains a sticking point. The developer wants a private conservancy to oversee the river, and it's possible the city would agree if the agency acted in a quasi-public manner, Putnam said.

The JPA would be an offshoot of an existing joint-powers body that governs the Santa Clarita Woodlands, south of the Newhall Ranch wilderness. Two members each from the city and the conservancy sit on that board.

All sides agreed last week to expand the agency by as many as four representatives of Los Angeles County to govern the Newhall Ranch high country, said Rorie Skei, deputy director for resources and planning for the mountains conservancy. Conceivably, the four county appointees would counteract the city and conservancy if the two voted as a block on any controversial issues.

If the JPA is approved by the county and if Newhall Ranch is approved, the wilderness would become public in increments as the project is developed.

Rare open land

The acquisition of the 4,000 acres would create a contiguous strip of protected parkland stretching from the Santa Clara River south to O'Melveny Park in Granada Hills, Weste said. With the exception of some smaller properties, the public holdings follow the Santa Susanas west to Moorpark.

Linking the Newhall Ranch property to the woodlands would envelope Mentryville into a huge park setting. Mentryville, an early settlement west of Newhall, was an oil boomtown at the turn of the century and abandoned in the '30s.

``With Mentryville next door, the new park will get a lot of use,'' Weste said. ``There's 4,000 acres of beautiful green mountains and meadows.''

The goal is to add trails within the next two years for hiking and horseback riding. Weste envisions a visitors center and campgrounds.

``And it snows there; it would be very close to go play in the snow,'' she said. ``We'll end up with the most unique park in the state.''

Access to the parkland would be from Pico Canyon, west of Lyons Avenue in Newhall, and from Newhall Ranch, proposed southwest of the junction of the Golden State Freeway and state Highway 126.

The land has long been used by Newhall Land's farming operation for cattle grazing and there are some old oil rigs in the area, but it is largely untouched, Putnam said.

With Santa Clarita in its shadow and Newhall Ranch emerging from the north, the mountain park is a haven of wildlife in a region that is fast becoming urban. Deer, bears and mountain lions share their turf with a menagerie of birds and smaller mammals.

``It's just so pretty,'' Weste said. ``The wildlife is enormous, the views are stupendous.''