Merger of Mountain Developments Studied : Environment: The proposed deal could result in 10,341 acres, most of it owned by Bob Hope, going to the state for parkland.

Developers of two giant housing projects in eastern Ventura County are negotiating a merger of their projects that could lead to the turnover of 10,341 acres of mountain property for state parkland--the largest single land addition of its kind in decades.

The proposed mega-deal, the subject of secret negotiations initiated by a Ventura County supervisor, may break a political deadlock that has stalled the projects for months.

Entertainer Bob Hope, who owns most of the proposed parkland, could veto the deal, a Hope spokesman said. But the developer working with Hope, Potomac Investment Associates, said Monday his company and the second developer, Ahmanson Land Co., both support the proposal.

Under the plan, the 750 homes and a PGA golf course that Potomac has proposed building on Hope’s Jordan Ranch near Agoura Hills would instead be constructed on the nearby Ahmanson Ranch in the rugged hills just west of the Los Angeles County line.

By shifting development to the Ahmanson site, Potomac no longer needs to acquire federal parkland for an access road to Jordan Ranch, a key stumbling block that has prompted protests from several environmental groups.

The proposed deal would put into public ownership the 10,341 acres on five parcels in the Santa Monica Mountains, Simi Hills and Santa Susana Mountains. Hope, who owns 7,316 of the acres, would receive $29.5 million from the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy and the National Parks Service for the land. The rest of the acreage would be donated for park use by the Ahmanson company.

“It will be the single largest . . . parkland acquisition in California at least in the last 30 years,” said Joseph T. Edmiston, executive director of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, a principal beneficiary of the deal.

The proposal is meant to appease environmentalists and Ventura County officials who have strongly opposed the massive rezoning that will be required to develop the Jordan Ranch and Ahmanson Ranch properties--both now zoned as open space.

Ventura County Supervisor Maria VanderKolk, elected last year on a platform that opposed the developments, said the joint venture would answer her principal concerns. She suggested it to developers in August, she said, “because I wanted to take a leadership role and make sure there was some kind of permanent solution to this issue . . . that preserves as much open space as possible.”

In addition to the Hope portion of the project, another 1,850 houses and 400,000 square feet of offices and stores would be built on the 5,477-acre Ahmanson Ranch. An additional 3,025 ranch acres would become federal parkland and 1,321 acres would be privately owned open space.

VanderKolk said both the Hope and Ahmanson projects, in their previous forms, probably would have been rejected next year by the County Board of Supervisors. But the projects eventually would have been approved without as much land set aside for parks, she said.

“This is the best thing we could bring before the board,” she said of the new proposal.

VanderKolk said that she first proposed a joint venture to the two developers two months ago, and that they have been negotiating since. She said that Ahmanson and Jordan officials had ironed out details and taken the proposal to Hope last month.

Fred Maas, vice president at Potomac, confirmed the figures presented by VanderKolk, and said his company has “come to an understanding” with Ahmanson officials. But he cautioned that Hope has not signed off on the tentative agreement.

“Both (developers) share the same goals, and we both believe this is the right thing,” he said. “We are agreeable. But Mr. Hope is not agreeable (yet) . . . nothing is final until it’s final.”

Hope’s attorney, Payson Wolff, said: “It has been explained to us in very, very general terms, and Bob . . . truly is upset by the notion that what he envisioned as a beautiful, great golf course on the southern part of the Jordan Ranch wouldn’t come about. He was flabbergasted at the notion that there would be no golf course.”

Still, “he hasn’t made up his mind and quite candidly, nothing firm or definitive has been put to him for him to make up his mind about,” Wolff said.

If approved, the proposal would preserve Hope’s 2,308-acre Jordan Ranch in its entirety as part of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.

In addition, the PGA golf course at Ahmanson Ranch would be named after Hope, VanderKolk said.

VanderKolk said she briefed other county supervisors last week on the proposed deal, but does not know if they will support it. She also told directors of the Agoura Hills-based environmental group Save Open Space about the proposal Saturday.

While reaction was mixed, she said, a majority at the meeting supported the proposal in concept.

Siegfried Othmer, a Save Open Space board member, reacted enthusiastically to the proposal Monday evening.

“This is a milestone,” he said. “I’m sure most SOS members will be thrilled about it. My general sense is that this is a good deal.”