Veterans Versus City Hall : Santa Clarita: Neighbors and local planners want the VFW hall shut down. But Post 6885 members vow to fight.

Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 6885 is under siege in Santa Clarita, dubbed the most patriotic city in the country by Cable News Network.

Allied with neighbors against the VFW are city planners, who have recommended that the veterans’ Canyon Country bar and meeting hall be shut down because of complaints that loud parties are disturbing the affluent neighborhood around it.

In their defense, VFW members hope to stir the same patriotic fervor that earned the city recognition from CNN during the Gulf War. They’re pulling their uniforms out of mothballs and polishing their medals in preparation for battle before the city Planning Commission tonight.

“They don’t want us in their neighborhood, but it’s OK for us to be wounded in war,” said Skip Johnson, a Vietnam veteran and commander of the Canyon Country post. “This is what we fought for--the freedom to have an organization like this.”

Neighbors said they hesitated at first to complain to the city about noise, litter and drunkenness at the VFW post on Sand Canyon Road because they feared that their patriotism would be called into question in a city that raised more than 200 flags and allocated $40,000 for a veterans memorial during Operation Desert Storm.

“It’s kind of a ticklish situation because they’re veterans, and you can be darn sure they’re going to be waving the flag,” said Leslie Christensen, who raises sheep on her ranch about a quarter of a mile from the post. “But we tried to keep them toned down, and now we want them out of here.”

The problems are not with the veterans, but occur when the VFW rents the two-story hall for weddings and other parties on weekends, Christensen said.

City planners said they recommended that the commission close the two-story building and outdoor canteen on a dusty two-acre lot because the post has been operating without a zoning permit for nearly 20 years and is incompatible with the surrounding neighborhood.

Most residents of Sand Canyon own small ranches worth $400,000 to $4 million, and raise horses or sheep behind white picket fences, local real estate agents said.

“It doesn’t fit in with the rest of the neighborhood and whether or not the VFW is a good organization has nothing to do with it,” said Rich Henderson, principal planner for the city.

The VFW was able to operate without a zoning permit because Los Angeles County never thoroughly investigated the situation when residents complained, Henderson said. Code enforcement officers and county officials met with VFW representatives, but “they’d be good for awhile and then things would slip back again,” said Jo Anne Darcy, field deputy for Supervisor Mike Antonovich, who represents the area.

“It’s not a popular thing, bucking the vets, but they’ve had a long time to get into compliance and they haven’t,” said Darcy, a Santa Clarita city councilwoman.

VFW members say some of the problems, including litter and public displays of drunkenness, are caused by day laborers congregating in front of the hall, not by veterans or those who attend parties there.

In an effort to keep day laborers off the property and to quell complaints about noise, the post recently erected a chain-link fence and shortened its weekend hours, Johnson said. But the post must continue renting the hall for weddings and parties to pay its $800 monthly mortgage, he said.

“This place means so much to us,” Johnson said. “There’s a camaraderie having other guys around who understand what you went through. They just can’t shut it down.”

Both sides have said they would appeal an unfavorable Planning Commission decision to the City Council. But Councilwoman Jill Klajic said she hoped that a compromise could be worked out before the issue gets to the council.

“It would be pretty ironic to send them to Vietnam and then deny war heroes a place to hang out,” she said.