CITY INFLUENCE SURVEY DRAWS RAPID RESPONSE.

Byline: Holly Edwards Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - Just one week after it was mailed, a city survey on Santa Clarita's attempt to extended its sphere of influence has prompted about 2,600 replies - a response officials call ``unbelievable.''

The results have yet to be tallied, and city officials are hoping for an overwhelming ``yes'' vote to bolster their bid for a sphere.

``The Local Agency Formation Commission and Supervisor (Michael D.) Antonovich have said their position on the sphere of influence has a lot to do with what the community thinks, so we're anxious to see what the survey shows,'' city planning director Jeff Lambert said Tuesday.

The city spent nearly $7,000 to mail brochures and survey cards to 68,000 homes in Santa Clarita and Stevenson Ranch, said Gail Ortiz, spokeswoman for the city.

In a previous survey of 11,000 residents outside the city, 75 percent of the respondents said they supported the city's bid for a sphere of influence.

Parks and Recreation Commissioner Karin Nelson, leader of a grass-roots campaign in support of the proposal, said her group has gathered about 3,000 signatures from residents who favor the plan.

Opponents of the plan include two groups that rarely agree on anything - large landowners and local environmentalists. Landowners oppose the plan, fearing it would add another layer of bureaucracy to the already- burdensome process of getting a development approved. Some environmentalists also oppose the plan because they fear it would encourage more development.

However, city officials say the sphere of influence is needed to ensure the city has the power to control its own destiny. Without the sphere, Lambert said, the city has no power to control large developments that are just outside the city, but have a direct impact on city residents and services.

More that 40,000 new homes are planned for construction just outside the city limits.

``It would give us more of a voice in the long-range planning of the valley,'' Lambert said. ``It really puts the lines on the map that say, The city of Santa Clarita will grow to include this area.''

LAFCO, an independent county-funded agency, has rejected two previous attempts by the city to extend the sphere. The first attempt in 1989, two years after the city was formed, was rejected because the city was deemed too young to handle the responsibility. The second attempt in 1991 was rejected largely because of community opposition to the plan, Lambert said.

LAFCO will hold a public hearing on the city's most recent request at a yet undetermined date in January 2001.