Picus Has Slender Thread of Hope in Halting Project : Growth: The councilwoman says a 1-foot-wide strip of undedicated land along Victory Boulevard may prevent Ahmanson Ranch builders from extending the road.

Los Angeles City Councilwoman Joy Picus hopes a one-foot-wide ribbon of land may become a barrier against a large development project that involves opening Victory Boulevard in West Hills to heavy traffic.

The way Picus figures it, that slender strip is going to give her a veto over plans to extend Victory Boulevard in West Hills to use as an access road to and from the proposed Ahmanson Ranch project in Ventura County.

“If it weren’t for this strip of land, we’d have nothing to say about the project,” Jackie Brainard, Picus’ press secretary, said Tuesday.

The Ahmanson Ranch project calls for 3,000 houses, 3 million square feet of commercial space, two hotels and two golf courses on 1,500 acres of vacant land. Its eastern border is adjacent to West Hills, located in Picus’ district.

The Ahmanson Land Co. proposes extending Victory Boulevard westward to connect with Las Virgenes Road and Thousand Oaks Boulevard, said company President Don Brackenbush. Victory Boulevard now ends at the Ventura County line.

He said this connection would also provide an alternative route to the Ventura Freeway for 8,000 to 10,000 motorists daily.

And that’s why Picus is worried. “They want to turn Victory into a supplement to the Ventura Freeway,” Picus said Tuesday.

“Ahmanson would get the gold mine, and Los Angeles would get the shaft” if the boulevard is extended, said the lawmaker, who opposes any plan to develop the Ahmanson Ranch property.

For the time being, Picus is pinning her hopes on stopping the Ahmanson project on a strip of land that stretches across the western terminus of Victory Boulevard. Its dimensions are about one foot by 100 feet.

The city of Los Angeles has never officially accepted this strip of land as part of Victory Boulevard. Without such an acceptance, this land cannot be used as a public street, Picus contended. The land is owned by the Ahmanson Land Co.

A similar situation prevented extension of Hatteras Street from West Hills into Hidden Hills, a Picus aide said.

Brackenbush said Ahmanson’s attorneys believe that Picus has got her facts wrong and that the city is required, due to technical language in the company’s deed, to accept the land and dedicate it as a street.

“This has been a big surprise to us,” Brackenbush said.

Picus unveiled her surprise Tuesday when she announced that she would hold a news conference Thursday at the western terminus of Victory Boulevard to reveal her plans to use the street dedication issue against the Ahmanson project.

The Ahmanson project is now being reviewed by officials in Ventura County, where it must win approval from the Board of Supervisors. An environmental impact report on the project is due to be completed in December. The project also entails a commitment by the developer to dedicate 3,025 acres of rugged land to the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.