FOR SOME, GRASS LOOKS GREENER IN VALENCIA : CANYON COUNTRY RESIDENTS STRIVE FOR MORE UPTOWN IMAGE.

Byline: Sherry Joe Crosby Daily News Staff Writer

If you're heading for a discount warehouse store, need horse feed or just have to get away from it all, head to Canyon Country. But for elegant shopping, cappuccino and books, look to Valencia.

That attitude worries some Canyon Country residents who see more upscale businesses gravitating toward the valley's west side, leaving their community with what they see as a glut of low-end businesses.

So now they've declared an unofficial war on discount merchandise chains and other businesses they deem unsuitable for Canyon Country.

``Canyon Country is the cowboy side of Santa Clarita Valley, whereas Valencia tends to be the yuppie end,'' said Carmen Froelich, a five-year Canyon Country resident. ``If we're not careful, Canyon Country and Newhall could end up becoming the San Fernando and Arleta of Santa Clarita Valley.''

Last week, the Santa Clarita City Council rejected a Valencia man's proposal to hold an auto swap meet at the Via Princessa Metrolink station after a group of Canyon Country residents complained that the venture would perpetuate the community's image as a refuge for unattractive businesses.

``It appears that the city is putting low-end businesses in Canyon Country, and this is just one more example,'' said resident Kathy Thornton, who fought the proposed swap meet, which would have featured used cars, motorcycles, recreational vehicles and boats.

City officials disagree, saying they have made a concerted effort to attract more businesses to Canyon Country, including a Price Club and Home Depot. During the past six years, the city has spent an estimated $12.2 million on capital improvements - more than any other part of Santa Clarita Valley.

``I think people are beginning to see what they want to see - more parks, a better looking area,'' said Councilwoman Jan Heidt, who has lived in Canyon Country for 24 years.

Among the attractions planned for Canyon Country is an eight- to 10-screen movie-theater complex on the site of the former Soledad Canyon School, an ice skating rink and expanded Price Club that would include a bakery, snack shop and pharmacy.

Civic leaders also hope to lure a country and western dance hall, a virtual reality game center and indoor exhibition hall to the area. But, they complain, reversing an economic tidal wave that flows toward Valencia is like battling a tsunami.

``We'd like more of an economic balance,'' said city spokeswoman Gail Ortiz. ``Even though the bulk of Santa Clarita's population is in Canyon Country, they see economic development in the west end. It's the way it has been moving and the way Newhall Land and Farming develops.''

Since 1965, the Valencia-based developer has been steadily building its master-planned community, bringing a score of businesses and other services to the valley such as College of the Canyons, California Institute of the Arts, Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital and the Town Center mall. Now the developer is finalizing a deal with Hilton Hotels Corp. to oversee the construction of a 203-room hotel and conference center slated to open next year in Valencia.

Officials at the development company said they aren't rebuffing Canyon Country - they're simply developing land they own.

``We can't develop land we don't own,'' said spokeswoman Marlee Lauffer. ``We're very supportive of economic development throughout Santa Clarita Valley, but our major investment is in the property we own, which is Valencia.''

Complicating efforts to bring more amenities to Canyon Country is its development history. Built by a host of developers who created different housing tracts without adequate public services, such as parks, the city has been trying to reverse the community's inequities ever since it was incorporated in 1987.

``We're playing catch-up,'' Ortiz said. ``We had a $1 billion deficit in infrastructure citywide when we became a city. It takes a while to make a dent.''

And while residents said they appreciate Santa Clarita's efforts to spruce up Canyon Country, which now has a bike and walking trail along Soledad Canyon Road, they want what Valencia has: landscaped paseos, tree-lined streets and upscale businesses like its planned hotel and conference center.

``I think we don't have that much out our way,'' Froelich said. ``They have opened that bike trail, but we don't have nice parks and walkways like you have in Valencia. You go down Orchard Village Road, it's just lovely with all its trees.''

But city officials argue that Valencia residents pay more for those extra amenities - something Canyon Country residents have resisted in the past. In Valencia, the average single-family dwelling is assessed about $300 in homeowner association and landscape maintenance fees to pay for all those trees, paseos and landscaped medians, according to Los Angeles County officials.

Instead, the city used a portion of a $25 million bond recently to landscape medians on Soledad Canyon Road east of Sand Canyon to Shadow Pines Boulevard.

``You can see legitimate improvements in Canyon Country,'' said Ken Pulskamp, the city's community development director. ``The majority of residents love Canyon Country.''