Deal Could End Deadlock on Projects : Development: The proposal would put Jordan Ranch and Ahmanson Ranch tracts on the same land. More than 10,000 acres would be donated for state parkland.

Developers of two giant housing projects in eastern Ventura County are negotiating a deal that would put both developments at the same location and turn over more than 10,000 acres of mountain property for state parkland, The Times has learned.

The proposed mega-deal, the subject of secret negotiations initiated by county Supervisor Maria VanderKolk three months ago, apparently would represent the largest single addition of state parkland in decades and break a political deadlock that has stalled the projects for months.

Entertainer Bob Hope, who owns most of the proposed parkland, could yet veto the deal, although he would get $29.5 million from it, a spokesman said. But the developer working with Hope, Potomac Investment Associates, and the second developer, Ahmanson Land Co., both support the proposal, VanderKolk and a state parks official said Monday.

Under the new proposal, the 750 homes and a PGA golf course 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.

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

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 angry protests from several environmental groups.

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

VanderKolk, elected supervisor 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.”

VanderKolk said both projects, in their current forms, probably would have been rejected early next year by the Ventura County Board of Supervisors. But without the current proposal, 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 she first proposed a possible joint venture to the two developers two months ago, and that they have been negotiating ever since. She said that Ahmanson and Jordan officials, none of whom could be reached Monday evening, had ironed out details and taken the proposal to Hope last month.

Fred Maas, vice president at Potomac, confirmed the figures presented by VanderKolk. But he cautioned that Hope has not signed off on the tentative agreement.

Maas said the developer has “come to an understanding with Ahmanson.

“We both share the same goals, and we both believe this is the right thing,” he said. “We are agreeable. But Mr. Hope is not agreeable . . . 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.

The proposed deal would put into public ownership 10,436 acres on five separate 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, according to Edmiston.

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

Under the new proposal, 1,850 houses and 400,000 square feet of offices and stores would be built on the 5,477-acre Ahmanson Ranch. Another 3,025 ranch acres would become federal parkland and 1,321 acres would be privately owned open space.

VanderKolk said she briefed other county supervisors last week on the proposed deal, but does not know if they will favor 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 of those at the meeting supported the proposal in concept.

Siegfried Othmer, a board member at Save Open Space, 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. My views are not far from those of the group.”

VanderKolk said that other longtime opponents of the Jordan Ranch development, including the Wilderness Society and the National Parks and Recreation Assn., have also supported the proposal in concept.

Even without the proposed changes, the Jordan and Ahmanson proposals drew support from some environmental groups because the original proposals called for setting aside thousands of acres for parks.

The Hope project, in fact, had such allure that it pulled Gov. Pete Wilson and U.S. Interior Secretary Manuel Lujan Jr. into the debate. As the project foundered this spring, both Wilson and Lujan endorsed a controversial swap of federal parkland with Hope for an access road at Jordan Ranch.

Previously, Hope has offered to swap, donate or sell cheaply about 5,700 acres to park agencies if Potomac is allowed to build a luxury housing development around a golf course named after him. The proposal includes a Hope golf museum.

In the earlier proposal, the Ahmanson Co. promised to dedicate 4,100 of its 5,477 acres to the National Park Service if it could build 1,850 houses and a golf course and 400,000 square feet of stores and offices.

Critics have insisted that the two projects would cause massive environmental damage, clogging streets, fouling the air, taxing limited water supplies and destroying critical wildlife habitat.

They also argued that if the two old cattle ranches cannot be preserved intact, then no private property in the county is safe from development because of the precedent that approval of the projects would set for construction on land zoned for open space.

VanderKolk said that even though the combined project on Ahmanson Ranch would have the same number of dwellings as the separate developments, the concentration on a single site will eliminate traffic problems in the Jordan Ranch area.

Times staff writer Carlos Lozano contributed to this story.

Ahmanson/Jordan Land Deal

The proposed deal would put into public ownership more than 11,000 acres of mountain property in Los Angeles and Ventura counties. In return, parks agencies would pay $29.5 million to entertainer Bob Hope for most of the property. Moreover, two development firms--Potomac Investment Associates and Ahmanson Land Co.--would get approval to build two golf courses and more than 2,600 homes on the Ahmanson Ranch in eastern Ventura County. 1. Runkle Ranch--4,369 acres owned by Hope in Santa Susana Mountains. Includes part of Blind Canyon, under consideration by L.A. County Sanitation District as landfill. Property already transferred to Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, subject to resolution of dispute over future of Jordan Ranch.

2. Jordan Ranch--2,308 acres owned by Hope. Under new proposal, Potomac Investment would abandon its proposal to build homes and a golf course on Jordan Ranch, relocating project to Ahmanson Ranch. Jordan Ranch would be part of $29.5 million sale of Hope properties and would become part of Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.

3. Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, part of national park system. Potomac and Hope had proposed acquiring 59 acres of federal parkland in Cheeseboro Canyon for access road to serve Jordan Ranch development. Under the new proposal, Jordan Ranch project would be abandoned and no federal land would be transferred.

4. Liberty Canyon--Hope property where Potomac Investment Assn. has planned another large development. Under new proposal, project would be scaled back and parks agencies would acquire about 300 acres of Liberty Canyon as part of $29.5 million buyout of Hope. Tract is considered key to protecting a wildlife corridor that permits movement of deer, bobcats and other large mammals between Santa Monica Mountains and Simi Hills.

5. Corral Canyon--Hope property where developers sought to build homes and a golf course and country club. Under new proposal, the 339 acres would be transferred to parks agencies as part of $29.5-million sale.

6. Ahmanson Ranch Parkland--About 3,025 acres would be deeded to parks agencies. In return, Ahmanson Land Co. and Potomac Investment would get approval from Ventura County to develop a huge residential and golf course project.

7. Combined Project Area--Site of more than 2,600 homes and two golf courses to be built in a joint venture between Ahmanson and Potomac.