Election Casts Doubt on Hope Land Swap
The results of a Ventura County election has cast doubt on the future of a complex land swap between Bob Hope and the National Park Service that would turn 5,700 acres of the comedian’s mountain property in Ventura and Los Angeles counties into parkland.
The election of a new slow-growth member to the Ventura County Board of Supervisors has reduced the chance that the board will approve the subdivision of Hope’s Jordan Ranch for a 750-house project, Supervisor John K. Flynn said. That would veto the key provision on which the land swap depends.
Last week’s upset election of slow-growth advocate Maria VanderKolk appears to have provided the swing vote against the project, Flynn said. Three of the five county supervisors who are scheduled to review the project in January now have either pledged to vote against it or have voted against it in the past.
“The chances of it passing are slim. If I were the developer, I would feel very uncomfortable right now,” Flynn said.
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