Planning Commission Rejects Location for Country-Western Dance Club : Entertainment: The promoters will seek another local site for the bar and pool hall.

By MARTHA L. WILLMAN

Dec. 26, 1993 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

SANTA CLARITA — In the wake of hundreds of protests from residents, promoters of a proposed country-Western dance club and pool hall have conceded that a former auto dealership on the edge of a residential neighborhood in Newhall was not the right place for their enterprise.

But the promoters have not given up hope of finding a suitable site in the Santa Clarita Valley, which they predict is ripe for country-Western entertainment.

“We’re not leaving Santa Clarita. We’re looking for another site,” a representative of the developer told planning commissioners last week, although the commission unanimously rejected a request to operate a nightclub called Spurs-N-Ques on Calgrove Boulevard.

Even a planning commissioner and several homeowner representatives opposed to the proposal said they support the country-Western concept.

“I like line dancing,” said Glenda T. Bona, president of one of several homeowner groups that barraged the city with almost 200 protest letters and petitions signed by more than 500 residents.

Commission Chairman Dave Doughman, who said he “used to do square dancing in my younger days,” also endorsed the concept, which he said fits in with the Western motifs and lifestyle in the Santa Clarita Valley. A country-Western nightclub, he said, “might be very appropriate in our community.”

Lee Rabun, a Los Angeles consultant representing the nightclub applicant, Mark Midgley of Newhall, told commissioners last week that opponents expressed “legitimate concerns.”

Objections voiced most often included traffic congestion, noise and safety in the residential area surrounding Calgrove Boulevard and Wiley Canyon Road adjacent to the Golden State Freeway. The city planning staff had recommended that the commission deny the application.

The applicant had proposed converting a 16,000-square-foot building, formerly Canyon Imports, into a two-story restaurant and nightclub with 22 pool tables, a saloon, dance floor and seating for 470. Nearby businesses include the Santa Clarita Athletic Club and Carrows restaurant.

In addition to other problems, some residents worried that the sale of alcohol would draw an undesirable crowd.

Among the more than 60 attendees at the public hearing, a number were supporters who said they were looking for fun close to home without having to drive to other nightclubs as far away as San Dimas, Victorville and Frazier Park.

Petitions signed by more than 170 supporters argued that dance enthusiasts generally are not heavy imbibers. “One cannot be drunk and country dance,” according to the petition. “We’d never remember the steps.”

Dance hall-saloons have emerged within the last three years as one of the fastest-growing entertainment trends across the nation, according to the Country Music Foundation in Nashville. There are estimated to be more than 1,200 dance halls nationwide and in such areas as Seattle, Chicago, Dallas, Phoenix, Kansas City, Mo.; Buffalo, N.Y.; and Orlando, Fla.

While several country-Western nightclubs are popular in the San Fernando Valley, none exist in the Santa Clarita Valley, officials said.