Judge Clears Way for Conservancy to Buy Parkland From Developer
A Los Angeles Superior Court judge cleared the way Friday for the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy to pay a developer of the Ahmanson Ranch project near Simi Valley $10 million for 404 acres of parkland near Agoura Hills.
Judge Stephen E. O’Neill denied an injunction sought by the environmental group Save Open Space, which claimed that the payment to Potomac Investments Associates and entertainer Bob Hope amounted to an illegal loan for the massive Ahmanson Ranch housing development.
“This confirms what we’ve been saying all along, that this is a legal and valid transaction,” said the conservancy’s executive director, Joseph T. Edmiston, who expected the sale to close within a month.
Save Open Space attorney Rosemary D. Woodlock said the group has not decided whether to appeal the ruling.
The conservancy’s purchase of the property is entwined with the proposed 2,600-unit Ahmanson Ranch project. The developer, in exchange for approval of the project, has proposed selling 7,363 acres of open land for $29.5 million and donating more than 3,000 acres to federal and state park agencies.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
