Protesters Warn of the Effects on L.A. County of Massive Ahmanson Ranch Project : Growth: Ventura County’s fast-track permit treatment of the Simi Hills development comes under fire.

About 75 Los Angeles County residents who say Ventura County officials are giving fast-track treatment to the huge proposed Ahmanson Ranch development marched in protest Saturday at a Woodland Hills shopping center.

“This is being sped along as though it were a done deal,” said Janice Lee of Calabasas, a protest organizer, who complained that Ventura County officials have allowed opponents only 45 days to review 2,000 pages of documents analyzing the environmental impact of the $1-billion project in the nearby Simi Hills.

“We need time to read, and absorb what we’re reading,” Lee said.

The project in the southeastern Ventura County hills would transform the sprawling cattle ranch into an upscale mini-city with 3,050 housing units, a 330-room hotel, two golf courses and a town center with dozens of shops and office buildings.

It is the result of a deal orchestrated by Ventura County Supervisor Maria VanderKolk in which the Ahmanson Land Co. and developers of comedian Bob Hope’s nearby Jordan Ranch agreed to consolidate their projects at a single location.

In exchange, Hope will turn over 10,000 acres he owns to state and federal agencies for public parkland. The agencies will pay Hope a below-market $29.5 million for the property.

Ventura County supervisors put the 2,800-acre project on a fast track last December so they can make a quick decision and retain multimillion-dollar state and federal commitments to help pay for the parkland.

Normally, the approval process would take nine months to a year after an environmental impact report is completed, said Bill Bell of Mountain View Estates, an affluent Los Angeles County neighborhood just outside the boundaries of the Ahmanson Ranch property.

“The fast-tracking speeds it up to just over 90 days,” he said.

The voluminous environmental impact report released Sept. 3 said the project would dump 37,540 cars a day onto roadways in the southwest San Fernando Valley. In addition, the report said the development would cause more smog and destroy hundreds of mature oak trees, wildlife and rare grassland.

Ahmanson Land Co. President Donald Brackenbush has said that road improvements will minimize the traffic effects of the project on nearby streets.

Written public comment on the report will be taken until Oct. 19. Ventura County supervisors will hold a public hearing on the project at 9:30 a.m. Oct. 21 at the Thousand Oaks Library. A decision by supervisors is expected by December.

VanderKolk has said that the benefits to Los Angeles County, especially the public parkland, should outweigh the problems. The residents’ property values will increase, she said, “with a large national park literally almost in their back yards.”

But Bell said Saturday that Ventura County has “literally dumped all of the problems” with the development into Los Angeles County.

“The real issue that has people angry is that this is a Ventura County project and they’re approving it without taking into account the impact on another jurisdiction,” Lee agreed. “It’s almost like they’re snubbing us.”

Bell and Lee said they organized Saturday’s three-hour rally to call residents’ attention to the enormity of the project.

“People in the West Valley really aren’t aware of it,” Lee said.

Marchers asked passersby to sign petitions protesting the project. Many obliged.

Marcher Mary Green of the Malibu Canyon Park community said she learned of the project only two weeks ago at a homeowner association meeting.

“To me, anyone who lives out in Thousand Oaks ought to be concerned, too,” she said. “The traffic will affect them, too. It’s not just us.”

Dan and Jan Bergman of Calabasas, who carried “Stop Ahmanson Ranch” signs, said they are concerned that the project will bring more traffic and pollution into their neighborhood.

“That’s why we moved west--to get out of all that,” Jan Bergman said.

Marty Joel of Calabasas said he was concerned that schools will become overcrowded if the project is built.

“We moved out here because of the schools,” Joel said as he handed out flyers to motorists passing by the center at Mulholland Drive and Valley Circle Boulevard.

Joel said he hopes future protests will have better turnouts. Other rallies are scheduled Oct. 3 and 10.