Congressional Hearing on Hope Land Swap Postponed

A House subcommittee hearing on a controversial proposal to exchange National Park Service property in Cheeseboro Canyon for land owned by entertainer Bob Hope in eastern Ventura County has been rescheduled for July 19.

The subcommittee on the environment, energy and natural resources of the Committee on Government Operations is holding hearings to determine whether the federal agencies should approve large land swaps.

Subcommittee Chairman Mike Synar (D-Okla.) has suggested that requiring congressional approval might provide more public scrutiny and safeguards.

The hearing, originally scheduled for May 3, will be the second to be held by the subcommittee.

National Park Service officials will be asked to explain previous actions on the proposed land swap and verify the agency’s stated neutrality on the deal, a subcommittee aide said.

Under the land-swap proposal, the park service would exchange 59 acres in Cheeseboro Canyon for 1,100 acres that Hope owns in adjacent Jordan Ranch.

Developers who have an option to buy Jordan Ranch are seeking the Cheeseboro property for an access road to a proposed golf course and 750 homes.

In addition, if the swap is approved, Hope has agreed to sell parks agencies another 4,600 acres he owns in the Santa Monica and Santa Susana mountains for $20 million, which proponents say is well below the market rate.

Opponents of the exchange, which has divided the environmental community, regard the hearing as a place to stymie it.

Public criticism by a subcommittee of Congress, which controls the park service’s budget, could make the agency reluctant to approve such a proposal.