Planners Delay Vote on Housing Development : Ahmanson Ranch: Decision is postponed until today. Many cite environmental damage project would pose to Simi Hills.

Weary after seven hours of testimony, the Ventura County Planning Commission on Thursday delayed a vote on the $1-billion Ahmanson Ranch housing project until this morning.

Overnight, the commissioners could ponder the comments of 69 witnesses, most of whom said the 10,000 acres of public parkland included in the Ahmanson deal outweigh the environmental damage the 3,050-dwelling mini-city would do to the Simi Hills.

To consider, as well, were the assertions Thursday by project opponents--two large environmental groups and Los Angeles County communities--that say they get all of the project’s traffic and smog but none of its financial benefits.

After a vote this morning, the Planning Commission will forward its recommendation to the Board of Supervisors for a final decision Tuesday.

At the two philosophical ends of Thursday’s testimony was a letter from Gov. Pete Wilson’s planning director endorsing the project and the plea of an 8-year-old Agoura girl who asked that the development be stopped.

“Save the animals,” pleaded Susan Spaulding in a tiny voice. “Ahmanson is trying to destroy them by building houses where they should live.”

But Wilson’s planning chief, Richard Sybert, said the 10,000 mountain acres the deal would leave in public hands offer “compelling regional and state benefits.”

“The value of these strategically located natural and open-space areas cannot be overstated,” Sybert said.

Also at play Thursday were the side negotiations between Ahmanson and the city of Calabasas, a key project opponent.

A main concern of Calabasas and of Los Angeles Councilwoman Joy Picus--both of whom have said they might try to block the project in court--are the cars that are expected to cut through the new community to get from the western San Fernando Valley to the Ventura Freeway in Calabasas.

Ahmanson Land Co. officials said Thursday that they are prepared to gate the main road through the new community and to cut by one-third the size of shops in the town center.

That would reduce auto trips by 30%, Ahmanson President Donald Brackenbush said.

“If that was the thing that made everybody happy, then we would do it,” Brackenbush said after the hearing.

Calabasas City Councilwoman Lesley Devine said the change would “start to make us a little bit more happy,” but that Ahmanson would also have to slash the number of housing units in the project for Calabasas to be satisfied.

But if the gate is added, Brackenbush said, Ventura County planners may decide to restudy the project.

And the delay would very likely kill the deal, he said, since comic Bob Hope has set a Jan. 15 deadline for park agencies to close their deal for his acreage in the Simi Hills and Santa Monica and Santa Susana mountains.

Ahmanson Land Co. and developers of Hope’s nearby Jordan Ranch consolidated their proposals at Ahmanson Ranch last year, and offered to turn over nearly 10,000 acres of mountain land to the public.

Hope would be paid $29.5 million for his share of the land, an amount county officials say is far less than it is worth but a price that opponents say is no bargain.

The project would transform part of the Ahmanson Ranch into an upscale mini-city with 8,700 residents, a 300-room hotel, two professional-quality golf courses and a town center of dozens of shops and government buildings.

At Thursday’s hearing, supporters said the project represents a rare opportunity to acquire parklands if the government moves swiftly, while opponents said officials are being pressured by Ahmanson and Hope into a bad deal for marginal properties.

“This public process is a sham and a mockery,” said Mary Wiesbrock, director of the Agoura-based Save Open Space.

She said the county has rushed its consideration of the project and released important documents late, making it impossible for the public to properly analyze the proposal.

Thousand Oaks Councilwoman Elois Zeanah said the Ahmanson package might look good at the moment. But she said it reminded her of “stories of dealing with the devil. We get something now, but the devil stays here forever.”

Ventura County supervisors put the joint project on a fast track a year ago so they could make a quick decision and retain multimillion-dollar state and federal park commitments to the deal.

Joseph T. Edmiston, executive director of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, said Thursday that Hope’s mid-January deadline is real and that a delay could release the $29.5 million to other projects.

“Ventura County has done a damned good job (in negotiating a good deal),” Edmiston said, “and it is not because of the pressure the developer has put on you, it’s because of the pressure you have put on the developer.”

The project drew its greatest support from business interests, labor unions and the construction industry. The chambers of commerce in Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley and Camarillo all endorsed the plan. The project would create 500 construction jobs and 1,760 permanent jobs, planners estimate.

Project opponents included Save Open Space and the Sierra Club.

Twenty-eight homeowner groups also oppose it, and a group called Stop Ahmanson Ranch presented a petition with 1,515 signatures at the hearing.