RURAL-FEEL DEVELOPMENT PLANNED IN VALENCIA; ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES BEGUN.

Byline: Teresa Jimenez Daily News Staff Writer

Environmental studies are being conducted for the latest Newhall Land and Farming Company project, about 2,500 homes on 950 acres on the north end of Valencia.

The development, called West Creek, will probably be considered by the Los Angeles County Regional Planning Commission in early 1999.

The project, planned for the area west of McBean Parkway at Copper Hill Road, will be characterized by a more rural feeling, with an emphasis on trails along San Francisquito Creek and in the acres of open space, said Carol Maglione, spokeswoman for Newhall Land.

``It's been part of the Valencia master plan for years and years,'' Maglione said. ``We had looked at incorporating a golf course at one point, but we focused more on the course in Westridge. We decided to focus instead on the creek and the open space.''

West Creek is slightly larger than Newhall Land's Westridge development, 1,712 homes on 800 acres west of the Golden State Freeway, as well as a PGA Tournament Players Club golf course. That project was approved by the county Regional Planning Commission on Monday for Board of Supervisors' consideration.

No active parks are proposed for the development, but more than half the project acreage will be set aside as open space, Maglione said. The hills and creekside area are considered the primary amenities for the development, she said.

``There are no traditional parks, but there are recreational areas,'' Maglione said. ``A lot of land is left as open space with paseos and walking trails. There are no traditional active parks, but there are acres and acres of open space amenities.''

The project is defined by two areas. The first area is planned for 850 high-end homes that will compare with the company's Woodlands development north of Valencia Boulevard at McBean Parkway or the Ridgecrest Country Estates development in Sand Canyon, Maglione said.

The homes will have lawns that stretch to rounded curbs rather than traditional sidewalks, Maglione said. The second area will have 1,700 homes made up of a mix of townhomes, apartments and single-family residences, Maglione said.

The West Creek proposal also includes an elementary school site, neighborhood recreation centers similar to ones in other Valencia neighborhoods and neighborhood commercial centers, Maglione said.

The West Creek project is one of many that Newhall Land has proposed in the last year. Construction already is under way for Woodlands and North Valencia, which will include a man-made lake south of Newhall Ranch Road at McBean Parkway. Westridge may get county approval by early next year, and the city planning department has begun processing North Valencia II, a housing development north of Newhall Ranch Road, for development.

``Part of it is the upsurge in the real estate industry in general,'' Maglione said. ``But we are taking one project at a time.''