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Developer Nominated for Park Board : Mountains: Critics say Peter Kyros has a conflict of interest because his firm is negotiating a land swap with the National Park Service.

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TIMES STAFF WRITER

Developer Peter Kyros, whose company’s plans to build in the Santa Monica Mountains involve a crucial land swap with the National Park Service, is under consideration as a board member of a Park Service fund-raising auxiliary, officials said this week.

Kyros has not been formally nominated to the board of the Santa Monica Mountains Parklands Assn., but his name has been suggested by David Gackenbach, superintendent of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, and he attended the board’s monthly meeting last Wednesday as an observer.

The 10-member board is expected to make formal nominations before voting to replace two resigning members at a meeting Jan. 24.

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Supporters of the idea say Kyros, a general partner of Potomac Investment Associates, could be an ideal resource to the association, with the money and connections to help the foundering group meet its goals of acquiring and preserving parkland.

Board member Dennis Washburn said he favored Kyros’ joining the board because he believed “the more cooperation with developers, the better.”

But critics say Kyros’ membership on the board would present a conflict of interest because his plans for developing Jordan Ranch in eastern Ventura County require Park Service approval.

“It looks to me to be more than a little collusive,” said Jill Swift, outgoing association president. “This is just an example of what goes on behind the scenes.”

Margot Feuer, who was a member of the former advisory commission to the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, said, “I am really quite distressed about what I see as a major conflict of interest. The park service is dealing with this man on an exchange.”

Potomac Investment Associates of Maryland holds the option to buy Jordan Ranch, a 2,308-acre parcel of oak-dotted meadows and panoramic views just west of the Los Angeles County line. The property is owned by entertainer Bob Hope, who over the years has rejected proposals that he donate or sell all or part of the land to the Park Service.

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Potomac Investment wants to build 1,152 homes and a PGA Tournament golf course on the site, and crucial to those plans is a four-lane access road that would connect the development to the Ventura Freeway by cutting through Cheeseboro Canyon Park.

The developer has proposed that the National Park Service swap 60 acres of parkland for the road in return for about 800 acres of Jordan Ranch, much of it in the upland meadow known as China Flat.

Gackenbach’s office is expected to make its recommendation on the trade to the Park Service’s headquarters in Washington, sometime next fall or winter, after environmental impact reports have been completed and reviewed and the Ventura County Board of Supervisors votes on the project.

In an interview Tuesday, Gackenbach acknowledged that he proposed Kyros and several other developers as potential members of the association’s board, mainly because the group has been unsuccessful in raising funds and could use patrons with clout.

He said he made the suggestions at an October board meeting during a discussion of recruiting new members. He suggested that involvement with the parklands association could make developers “more attuned to what we’re doing and what we’re trying to accomplish,” and help the national recreation area at a time when little federal money is available for acquiring and preserving parklands.

But Gackenbach said that if Kyros’ place on the board would generate controversy, he would not push it.

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Kyros said he would like to serve on the board if chosen, but that “the last thing I want to do is be in conflict or cause some internal controversy.

“I really do believe the time has come for the private sector members who are the park’s neighbors to come together and offer support for the park,” Kyros said. “I feel I can help the park whether I am on the board or not.”

Kyros and Gackenbach said Kyros’ presence on the board would present no conflict because the group’s sole purpose is to raise funds for the mountain recreation area and has no authority over Park Service policies or decisions.

Swift and other critics, however, noted that the parks superintendent attends most meetings, and that the association operates out of the national recreation area’s headquarters in Agoura Hills.

The Santa Monica Mountains Parklands Assn. was formed about three years ago, largely as a replacement for the dismantled Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area Advisory Commission.

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