COUNTYWIDE : Hearing Slated on Consolidated Project

The Ventura County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday agreed to review a proposal that combines two massive housing projects on the Ahmanson Ranch near Simi Valley, while turning more than 10,000 acres into public parkland.

The board agreed 4 to 1 to review the new 2,600-house project, which would put developments planned for the Ahmanson and Jordan ranches at a single location, on Dec. 10.

The hearing would be an early screening of the new project, but no guarantees will be made, supervisors said. A detailed environmental review of the project must still be done and a series of public hearings conducted, they said.

Supervisor Susan K. Lacey voted against the proposal, saying developers are getting special treatment by allowing them to interrupt the usual process and offer a substitute plan midway through.

The consolidated project was first announced in mid-October and entertainer Bob Hope, who owns most of the parkland, signed off on it three weeks ago.

Under the proposal, Hope would sell more than 7,000 acres--including the Jordan Ranch near Oak Park--to park agencies for a below-market $29.5 million. Ahmanson Land Co. would give another 3,025 acres to the National Park Service.

The 750 houses and a PGA golf course planned for Hope’s Jordan Ranch would be incorporated instead into the Ahmanson project.

Ahmanson would build another 1,850 houses, a second golf course and a town center with 400,000 square feet of offices and stores.