SIMI VALLEY : Early Annexation Ruling Considered

The Ventura County Local Agency Formation Commission on Wednesday will consider Simi Valley’s request for an early ruling on a proposed annexation of entertainer Bob Hope’s Jordan Ranch.

If the commission agrees to the request, Simi Valley would have to submit an environmental impact report before an actual ruling is made, commission Director Bob Braitman said.

He added that the environmental document would be needed to help the five-member commission properly evaluate the annexation proposal.

Simi Valley officials have requested an early ruling from the commission because they want to avoid the costly process of amending the city’s General Plan if it appears that the annexation proposal is going to be turned down.

Braitman said that in the past the commission has not reviewed annexation proposals by cities until their General Plans have been amended and the necessary environmental impact reports completed. However, Braitman said, there is no law prohibiting the commission from changing its procedure.

Although a draft environmental impact report has been completed on a housing development planned for Jordan Ranch, it does not include information about how the project would affect Simi Valley.

Braitman said if the commission decides to make an early ruling on the annexation proposal, the environmental impact report would have to be amended before it could be presented to the commission.

Stanley E. Cohen, an attorney for Hope and Potomac Investment Associates, which has an option to buy Jordan Ranch, said that would not be a problem. Cohen said it would take about 45 days to make the necessary changes.

“We have been anticipating this all along,” Cohen said.

Hope and Potomac have proposed building 750 houses and a tournament golf course on the Jordan Ranch site.

In July, fearing the County Board of Supervisors would oppose the development, Hope asked the city of Simi Valley to annex both Jordan Ranch and his Runkle Ranch properties.

Hope and his attorneys told the city that if it annexed his land, the entertainer would not sell Blind Canyon, part of the Runkle Ranch site, to the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts for use as a landfill.

Although Simi Valley officials have not committed themselves to supporting the annexation, they have said the main reason they are considering it is to prevent a dump from being built at the gateway to their city. The city already has a landfill at its northwest end.