COUNCILS PROTEST RECREATION FEES HIKES FOR NONRESIDENTS SPUR TALK OF BOYCOTTS.

Byline: Eugene Tong Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - The Castaic and West Ranch town councils are fuming after the city of Santa Clarita moved to charge nonresidents more to participate in city-run sports and recreation programs, stirring talk of shopping boycotts against city-based businesses.

Paul Ash, president of the West Ranch Town Council, said all options are open and the issue will be discussed at their monthly meeting.

"In the past, when these issues were brought up with the differential park fees, we have discussed responding by asking our citizens not to shop in the city or not to shop on auto row," said Ash, whose panel represents nearly 10,000 residents in Stevenson Ranch and Westridge. "I'm sure there're options that are still out there."

The policy approved in last week's 4-1 City Council vote intends to end what officials have called a "subsidy" for residents outside city limits - some 30,000 including those from Castaic and Stevenson Ranch.

Officials have argued they should pay more because they don't directly pay taxes to the city, yet have enjoyed the same programs as city residents at facilities built with city funds.

The new policy championed by City Councilman Frank Ferry, who will face re-election April 11, could nearly double the price of a $45 swim class, or add an extra $160 to the costs of forming a soccer team.

But Ash and Lloyd Carder II, president of the Castaic Town Council, called the move unfair and divisive. County residents have contributed to city coffers through sales tax - Santa Clarita is home to the region's only shopping mall and auto mall - and they often volunteer time for recreation programs, Carder said.

"The whole thing is just downright ludicrous," said Carder, who added that his daughter has taken swim lessons offered by the city. "You go to a lot of these programs, and the coaches put in mass amounts of time, and they're clearly not just city residents.

"Depending on where you live in the unincorporated area, some people do all their shopping in Santa Clarita. Galpin's starting to sound very good to me," he said, referring to the San Fernando Valley-based auto dealer. Sales tax from Santa Clarita auto sales are a key source of city income.

"I think what Ferry and them have done is they've declared war on the unincorporated areas. The city should be making friends and not enemies."

While the heads of the two panels charged with advising 5th District county Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich are on the warpath, the supervisor's office has called for compromise.

"We're looking close at the measure the City Council passed," said Tony Bell, an Antonovich spokesman. "We want to work closely with the parks department of the city so that we have a rate structure that's fair to the residents of the Santa Clarita Valley."

Yet, Carder also blamed the county for failing to keep up with the recreation needs in the unincorporated areas. The city has said some 49 percent of the 350,000 recreation program registrants since 2001 hail from outside Santa Clarita.

Three community parks serve Stevenson Ranch, and Castaic has its own sports complex, though the nearest community pool is in Val Verde. In contrast, Santa Clarita has invested in dozens of neighborhood parks, a sports complex and an aquatics center. A listing for county activities fills about a dozen pages, compared with the 68-page catalog the city compiles each quarter.

In 2003, officials began offering priority registration for city residents applying for popular programs or those that take place at city-developed parks.

"My daughter does the swimming program because, simply, we don't have anything here," Carder said. "Most of the stuff that the kids of the unincorporated areas do in the city are things that don't exist in the county.

"Maybe we should get the county to complete the sports complex so we can have pools and tennis. I'm telling you, it's a great reason for incorporation."

Bell said the county aims to partner - rather than compete - with the city.

"Our parks department works with the city's parks department to balance programs and create recreation activities that complement one another," he said. "Instead of competing with them, we want to complement one another."

City parks and recreation officials aim to implement tiered rates in late 2006.

Ash, who has coached local flag football, hoped money won't be a factor dividing the greater Santa Clarita Valley from taking to the same fields.

"We all live in the same geographically-defined area in the valley," he said. "We're all neighbors."

eugene.tong(at)dailynews.com

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