Move to Save Land Swap Could Take Years : Jordan Ranch: If Simi Valley decides to annex acreage involved in the Hope deal, the process of getting approval could be lengthy.

Even if Simi Valley agrees to a proposal to annex 5,800 acres of land owned by entertainer Bob Hope, it could be two years before the plan is considered by Ventura County, officials said Friday.

Before the city could apply to the Local Agency Formation Commission for annexation of Hope’s land, it would have to amend its General Plan. The environmental impact report on the planned development of Hope’s Jordan Ranch property also would have to be changed.

“It could be a year and a half or more before they were even eligible to come before LAFCO for approval” of annexation, said Robert L. Braitman, executive officer of the agency. LAFCO is the state-established agency that rules on annexations and incorporations.

The 5,800 acres that would be annexed include 2,308 acres at Hope’s Jordan Ranch south of Simi Valley and 3,495 acres in Runkle Ranch to the northeast of the city. Hope and Potomac Investment Associates, which has an option on Jordan Ranch, have proposed building 750 homes and a tournament golf course on the property.

Under the proposal, the National Park Service would swap 59 acres of parkland needed for an access road to the subdivision for 1,100 acres of the Jordan Ranch. In addition, Hope is selling and donating 4,600 acres in the Santa Susana and Santa Monica mountains to parks agencies for a below-market $10 million.

Payson Wolff, Hope’s attorney, said Friday that the election last month of slow-growth advocate Maria K. VanderKolk to the Board of Supervisors had influenced the decision by Hope and the developer to pitch the annexation proposal to Simi Valley rather than take their chances with the board. County officials believe that VanderKolk would provide the swing vote against the Jordan Ranch project.

“There is no question that the decision was furthered by the results of the change on the Board of Supervisors,” Wolff said.

However, he said, Hope and the developer had long considered proposing the annexation to Simi Valley.

“We feel that the people in Simi Valley are the ones that are going to be the most affected--adversely--if the project does not go through, or favorably if it does,” Wolff said. “So we thought it was only appropriate to involve the people of Simi Valley.”

In addition to preserving 5,700 acres of surrounding wilderness as open space, the city would receive tax revenues from the Jordan Ranch development as a result of the annexation, Wolff said.

Annexation would also prevent Blind Canyon, part of the Runkle Ranch property, from being sold to the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts, which Simi Valley officials have staunchly opposed, he said.

If the annexation is not approved, the sale is “going to happen,” Wolff said. “That’s a foregone conclusion.”

However, even if the annexation proposal managed to reach LAFCO, it still stands a good chance of being rejected, a city staff report says.

Because the city is cut off from Jordan Ranch by rolling hills to the south, it would be difficult for the city to provide services to the area, so it “appears likely that LAFCO would not support this annexation,” Diane Davis-Crompton, the city’s director of environmental services, wrote in the report.

Port Hueneme Mayor Dorill B. Wright, who is a member of the agency, said this would be a major concern. He also said it appears that Thousand Oaks may be more affected by the development than Simi Valley.

“The geographical aspect causes one to say, ‘Should this really be in Simi Valley or Thousand Oaks? Or should it not be developed?’ ” Wright said. “But if the city and the developer come to an understanding and make an application, we will consider it on the merits of the application.”

City officials admit that it would be difficult to provide city services to the area.

“There are a lot of unanswered questions, such as how would people there do business with the city . . . and how would we gain access to Jordan Ranch?” Councilman Bill Davis said. “There are a number of obstacles, but I don’t know if they are insurmountable.”

He suggested that a road could possibly be built to join Simi Valley with Jordan Ranch. The only way to gain access to the property now is through Liberty Canyon Road in Los Angeles County.

Simi Valley Mayor Greg Stratton acknowledged that the city is facing a number of obstacles to annexation, all of which the council will have to weigh carefully before making its decision on whether to back the proposal.

“I don’t know if we want to go through the whole process only to have LAFCO say no,” Stratton said. “There are a number of things we’re going to have to look at. But I don’t think the staff report is very favorable to this.”

City officials said if the annexation was approved, it could take years before the entire project could be built. The Porter Ranch development would come under the city’s controlled-growth ordinance, which allows 43 building permits every three months until mid-1996. The city also has a hillside ordinance that regulates the size of structures that can be built.

“Obviously, there are a number of issues that need to be worked out,” said Fred Maas, a spokesman for Potomac Investment. “But where there’s a will, there’s a way.”

Maas said representatives of Hope and the developer will formally present the annexation proposal to the Simi Valley City Council on Monday.

Maas said if the proposal fails, “My belief is that something else would be worked out.”