RAINS ISOLATE CANYON DWELLERS; DIRT ROAD TURNS TO IMPASSABLE QUAGMIRE DURING BIG STORMS.

Byline: Teresa Jimenez Daily News Staff Writer

Even with his Ford F-150 truck, Harry Clay has found himself lodged in the muck that forms when rain-swollen Hasley Creek mixes with the dirt and sand that make up Sloan Canyon Road.

``It's kind of like quicksand down there,'' Clay said. ``People get stuck on a daily basis. Not even a four-wheel-drive will do it.''

When Clay bought his 5,800-square-foot home on three acres, he knew it was rural. In fact, that's what he liked about the area. But he doesn't like feeling stranded on his own property when an El Nino storm comes reeling his way.

And that is precisely what has happened to him and his neighbors in the secluded Castaic neighborhood, now that construction has closed one access road and rain has muddied the other.

``We're in limbo,'' Clay said. ``One road is closed and the other is flooded. Every time it rains, we're landlocked. Emergency crews can't get in and we can't get out.''

Now the residents of the 40 or so homes in Sloan Canyon are pushing Los Angeles County officials for a solution to a problem complicated by rural lifestyles, private roads and, of course, money.

Residents had become accustomed to traveling south on Sloan Canyon Road to Hasley Canyon Road to reach the Golden State Freeway or to get to town. They cannot go north on Sloan Canyon Road to leave the area because they would have to cross through private property, and the owner has not allowed access out of fear of liability.

When Hasley Creek overflowed and made it difficult to travel on Sloan Canyon Road, residents would take Hillcrest Parkway, which is a dirt road for less than a mile from where it meets with Sloan Canyon Road and a paved road for about a mile and a half as it approaches The Old Road.

Hillcrest Parkway slowly has been paved as Suncal construction company has built homes in the area, Clay said.

But in September, Suncal closed off access to the road for safety reasons because grading is being done around the dirt portion.

While Clay agrees that the company made a reasonable decision, he said the closure has come at a bad time, right before winter storms that wreak havoc on Sloan Canyon Road. The company does not expect to reopen the road until 1999, Clay said.

Some of the residents want the county to pave Sloan and install a bridge over Hasley Creek. After all, Clay said, official road plans show the road as a thoroughfare that will eventually serve as a ``limited secondary highway.''

County officials, however, said they don't hold the solution.

``It's a private road. We won't fix it. They're the only ones who use it,'' said Jo Anne Darcy, a representative for county Supervisor Michael Antonovich. ``You have people who live in rural areas - they knew when they moved in that it was rural.''

And the county can't afford to pave the road and install a bridge, Darcy said. The county gets money for road improvements from development projects, and the developers for the Hillcrest area already paid $600,000 for such costs, she said.

That money would only pay for a portion of the work residents along Sloan Canyon Road are requesting, Darcy said.

A letter drafted by the county Department of Public Works and sent to residents in the area states that early estimates for the project they are requesting would be more than $1.5 million.

To make matters more difficult, not all residents in the area want a paved road, Darcy said. Some want to keep the rural nature of the area and to leave the dirt road as it is.

Darcy suggested that the residents participate in the solution by agreeing to join a flood control district. The district would assess them a tax, and that money would be applied to the construction of a road and bridge, or any other project residents agree upon, she said.

``They can afford it,'' Darcy said. ``There are some nice homes out there.''

But Clay said the county has plenty of money for some sort of project that would make Sloan Canyon Road more driveable.

``Why don't they just build a bridge and do the road later when they have more money?'' Clay asked. ``They have options. They could build a cheap bridge.''

He added that the county created the problem by changing the development agreement for the Hillcrest project. Clay said developers had originally been required to improve Sloan Canyon Road when the project was proposed in the early 1990s.

It was put on hold when the property owners declared bankruptcy, Clay said. When Suncal took over after the recession, the road improvement stipulation disappeared and the number of houses permitted in the area grew, he said.

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos

PHOTO (1--Color) Harry Clay stands in the muddy Hasley Creek, which washes mud onto Sloan Canyon Road and traps residents during heavy rains.

(2) Sloan Canyon residents meet to discuss conditions on unpaved Sloan Canyon Road, where it crosses Hasley Creek in Castaic.

Shaun Dyer/Special to the Daily News