Oak Park Panel Opposes Bob Hope Plan : Jordan Ranch: An advisory council says an environmental report shows the 750-house project will increase pollution and congestion.

Citing environmental concerns, a group representing the unincorporated community of Oak Park has voiced strong opposition to entertainer Bob Hope’s plans to develop Jordan Ranch into a luxury 750-house project.

The Oak Park Municipal Advisory Council denounced Hope’s plan Tuesday night after reviewing a report that said his proposal would significantly increase traffic and air pollution in eastern Ventura County.

“We want to tell them that the people of Oak Park do not want that project to be built,” Oak Park council member Ron Stark said Wednesday. Stark is a member of the advisory group that acts as a voice for the community of 10,000 to the County Board of Supervisors.

An environmental report conducted on the Jordan Ranch project concluded that emissions from traffic generated by the project would exceed county air-quality guidelines. The report also said that the project would destroy 10 to 20 acres of wetlands.

“The pollution, the congestion, the animal habitat that will be destroyed and the vegetation--there’s no way they can compensate for that,” Stark said.

Hope and Potomac Investment Associates, which has an option to buy the Jordan Ranch, plan to build 750 houses and a golf course on the 2,308 acres.

Oak Park officials said they were overwhelmed by the number of residences and offices that would be built on the rural land.

Stark said he was alarmed by a statistic that indicated that up to 100,000 people would travel to Jordan Ranch to attend weekend golf tournaments.

“That’s already too much for our roads now,” he said.

While opposing the Jordan Ranch project, Oak Park officials postponed taking a position on another major development proposal at the Ahmanson Ranch, asking the county for an additional 60 days in which to review an environmental report. If the request is not granted, the council said it would also reject the project unless there was a significant reduction in its size.

The Ahmanson Land Co. has proposed building 3,000 houses, 3 million square feet of offices, two hotels and two golf courses on the 5,547-acre ranch.

Other Oak Park officials said they were angry that Potomac Investment Associates has failed to address the group’s concerns at any of Oak Park’s monthly meetings.

“They have no care whatsoever for the people of Oak Park,” Chairman Pitt Gilmore said.

Fred Maas, vice president of Potomac Investment Associates, said he has met with Oak Park officials for more than a year about his project.

Maas said he was not informed about Oak Park’s decision Tuesday night but did not see it as a setback. He planned further meetings with the group to resolve their complaints.

“We want to demonstrate to them that their concerns are ours,” Maas said.