RADIO SHOW TO HOLD NEWHALL RANCH FORUM.

Byline: Amy Collins Daily News Staff Writer

The controversy over the 25,000-home Newhall Ranch project will take to the airwaves today during the first broadcast debate on the proposal.

KCRW-FM's ``Which Way L.A.'' will hold the round-table debate among project planners and community members who have criticized the plan as urban sprawl that will put strain on the surrounding areas.

Emily Harris, the producer of ``Which Way L.A.,'' said the development plan cuts to topics that are important throughout the region.

``It raises some really interesting issues. The whole underpinning of this project is that this is a new way of living, that people want to return to an old way of living . . . in a new way,'' she said.

The debate today is expected to touch on how the region will accommodate growth, who gets to say how a project impacts other people and how to plan for growth, Harris said.

``This really embodies a lot of issues for Southern California for the next 30 years,'' she said.

The Newhall Land and Farming Company has proposed the construction from scratch of a 70,000-population community west of the Golden State Freeway on 12,000 acres nestled behind Six Flags California amusement park. The community will be designed to be largely self-contained with its own parks, shops, golf course, lake and schools.

``It's a small-town feel in a very large planning area,'' said Newhall Land spokeswoman Marlee Lauffer.

The Valencia-based company is in the process of circulating its draft environmental impact report for public comment, and hopes to have the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approve the project this year, Lauffer said. The project would be built over 25 to 30 years, beginning in 2000, she said.

Participants in the debate will include James Harter, Newhall Land's vice president in charge of the project; Santa Clarita Councilwoman Jill Klajic; Fillmore Mayor Roger Campbell; and John Schwarze, an administrator with the Los Angeles County Department of Regional Planning.

Jim Churchill, who lives in Los Angeles and farms land in Ojai, also will take part in the debate. He said he hopes to focus on the problems of urban sprawl and the costs the project will create for area residents.

Churchill also is concerned with the effect the project will have over the Ventura County line, which makes up the western border of the Newhall Ranch project.

``Ventura County is quite involved because they get a lot of impacts, but they've been virtually ignored in the EIR,'' Churchill said.

The one-hour ``Which Way L.A.'' will be broadcast live at 1 p.m. today and will be aired again at 7 p.m. It can be found on the FM dial at 89.9 in Los Angeles, 102.3 in Santa Paula, 89.1 in Ventura, and 102.1 in Ojai.