County OKs Ahmanson Plan, Lops Perks : Development: Supervisors say Simi Hills housing project offers a unique opportunity to protect large areas of open space.

The Ventura County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved construction of the $1-billion Ahmanson Ranch housing project after deciding that the nearly 10,000 acres of public parkland included in the deal outweigh the environmental damage the mini-city will do to the Simi Hills.

Most supervisors said the parkland acquisition--the largest by the state in decades--represents a unique opportunity to protect large swaths of open space forever.

“This opportunity will be next to impossible to reproduce in the future,” said Supervisor Maria VanderKolk, who joined the majority in the 4-1 decision.

The vote culminated a six-year effort by Ahmanson Land Co. to develop its 5,433-acre sheep ranch in the rolling hills south of Simi Valley. Its chances were boosted last year when Gov. Pete Wilson endorsed the plan because of its parkland benefits.

“This has been a long, long ordeal for us,” said Ahmanson Land Co. President Donald Brackenbush, shortly after he and many others in a standing-room-only crowd loudly applauded the supervisors’ decision.

Opponents, however, said the vote represents a dangerous shift away from Ventura County’s growth-control policies that generally force construction of new communities within cities or next to them.

The supervisors’ decision equates to “making policy project by project,” said Supervisor Susan K. Lacey, the board’s lone dissenter. “That’s a real scary idea.”

Tuesday’s approval does not mean immediate construction of the 3,050-dwelling golf course community.

First, state and federal park officials must seal the deal to obtain 9,949 acres in the mountains that ring the western San Fernando Valley from Ahmanson and comic Bob Hope.

Hope, who would get $29.5 million from state and federal agencies for his three-quarter share of the land, has set a Jan. 12 deadline, officials said.

The developers also must try to resolve their differences with Los Angeles County and the cities of Los Angeles and Calabasas, the jurisdictions that would bear the brunt of the project’s traffic and smog--and where street improvements are needed to accommodate the new community.

Calabasas and Los Angeles officials have raised the prospect of lawsuits to stop the project or force significant reductions in its size.

Brackenbush said he will continue negotiations with all parties. “That is our next task, and hopefully we can do something very quickly, within 30 days,” he said.

Calabasas officials said Tuesday that they were close to an agreement with Ahmanson that would pay the city more than $7 million, reduce the project’s office and retail space by 20%, and cut traffic by 10% to 20%.

Los Angeles Councilwoman Joy Picus said she still opposes the project because it will dump thousands of cars a day onto Victory Boulevard on the ranch’s eastern flank.

“My position has not changed one iota,” Picus said. “This is a residential street and the quality of life for people who live there will be disrupted. I am committed to doing anything in my power not to let that happen.”

Picus said she has contacted city lawyers about the possibility of legal action. A large homeowners’ group and an environmental organization have also said they might go to court to block the project.

“It’s highly likely somebody will (sue),” said Mary Wiesbrock, director of the Agoura-based Save Open Space. “This project is an environmental disaster.”

As they have at prior hearings, Wiesbrock and other environmentalists who worked for VanderKolk’s 1990 election scolded the supervisor for what they see as her reversal on development of open space.

“Maria VanderKolk has betrayed us and it’s very sad,” Wiesbrock said. “This is a story of betrayal and greed.”

It was VanderKolk who suggested last year that Ahmanson and developers of a second project proposed for Hope’s nearby Jordan Ranch consolidate the projects at a single site, thereby preserving thousands of acres within state and federal park jurisdictions.

“I never ever meant to hurt you. I’m sorry for the lost friendships,” VanderKolk said to her former supporters in a lengthy, emotional statement before her vote. “(But) I’m proud of this proposal.”

The new community would transform 2,800 acres of Ahmanson Ranch into an upscale community with 8,600 residents, a 300-room hotel, two professional-quality golf courses and a town center of dozens of shops and government buildings.

A principal complaint about the development has been that its adverse effects would be felt most in Los Angeles County, while Ventura County would reap most of its benefits.

The project will result in 37,540 vehicle trips on nearby Los Angeles County roadways when it is completed in 14 years. But it would funnel at least $35 million over 30 years to Ventura County’s general fund, planners have said.

Environmental groups--including the Sierra Club and the Environmental Coalition of Ventura County--oppose the project. They say it will do enormous damage to the environment by grading at least 40 million cubic yards of soil, polluting the air and destroying rare grasslands and hundreds of mature oak trees.

Before the hearing, environmentalists lined the main walkway into the county Administration Building with 1,380 three-foot-high cardboard boxes representing the oak trees to be lost to the project.

Both the Ventura County Planning Commission and the county planning staff recommended defeat of the project, citing its severe environmental effects and precedent-setting potential for development of other open space in Ventura County.

But most of the supervisors said Tuesday that they do not believe that the Ahmanson project will set a precedent usable by other developers, since so much parkland is involved.

The deal would turn over 7,316 acres owned by Hope, and Ahmanson would donate another 2,633 acres, all on ranches in the Simi Hills and the Santa Monica and Santa Susana mountains.

The new parklands would link wildlife corridors that stretch from the mountains near Santa Clarita to the Pacific Ocean, park officials have said.

“I honestly don’t think anything like this will come before the county again,” VanderKolk said. “But if it sets a precedent, it might not be a bad one. Any time the county has the opportunity to put into public ownership the amount of land we’re looking at, it should consider it.”

Supervisors John K. Flynn, Vicky Howard and Maggie Kildee also said the parkland was a powerful argument for approval. Flynn said he is concerned that interested parties may have weakened the project financially by gleaning too many concessions from Ahmanson.

“It’s almost like the project is a giant honeycomb and the honey is already being sucked out,” Flynn said. “Maybe there have been too many extractions. I just hope we haven’t been pigs.”

County officials said Ahmanson has gone further than any developer in county history to offset the environmental drawbacks of a project.

The developer has agreed to pay $3.7 million for impacts on air quality, $3.6 million for off-site road improvements and $7.2 million to build the community and government facilities in the new town. And Ahmanson increased its commitment to Calabasas by at least $5 million on Monday, city environmental coordinator Steve Craig said.

The development also would provide $17.8 million to build two schools in the community and expand Oak Park High School, which the Ahmanson students would attend.

The new community would include the Las Virgenes Institute, a regional center for environmental education and research supported by project fees.

Because of its parkland benefits, Gov. Wilson’s planning chief, Richard Sybert, re-emphasized the administration’s support last week.

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

It was Wilson who revived the Ahmanson project in spring, 1991, by inviting county officials to Sacramento to discuss both that project and a second one proposed at Hope’s Jordan Ranch.

A few months later, VanderKolk suggested that the projects be combined. Last December, the supervisors endorsed the project in concept and put it on a fast-track to retain multimillion-dollar state and federal park commitments to the deal.

The project has drawn its greatest support from business interests, labor unions, the construction industry and park officials.

The chambers of commerce in Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley, Camarillo and Ventura also support the project, which would create 500 construction jobs and 1,760 permanent jobs.

Opponents include the Conejo and Angeles chapters of the Sierra Club and 28 homeowners groups, nearly all in Los Angeles County. And a group called Stop Ahmanson Ranch presented a petition with 1,515 signatures urging denial.

Ahmanson Ranch The project would transform 2,800 acres of the 5,433-acre Ahmanson Ranch into a 3,050-dwelling golf course community that would have two schools, a library, fire station, sheriff’s station and town hall. The remaining 2,633 acres of the ranch would become public parkland. So would 7,316 acres owned by comic Bob Hope, including nearby Jordan Ranch.

Ahmanson Project at a Glance

The Plan

The project--to be constructed in four phases over 14 years--would be an upscale community with 8,600 residents, 3,050 dwellings, two golf courses, a hotel and a town center with 400,000 square feet of offices and shops on 2,800 acres.

The Benefits

The deal would turn over 9,949 acres to park agencies that describe the mountain land as critical to preserve wildlife corridors linking the Simi Hills and the Santa Monica and Santa Susana mountains. The project would also contribute at least $35 million to Ventura County’s general fund over 30 years.

The Drawbacks

The project would eventually dump 37,540 cars a day onto nearby roadways in Los Angeles County, help extend the layer of smog that often covers the adjacent San Fernando Valley, prompt grading of at least 40 million cubic years of soil and destroy rare grasslands and hundreds of mature oak trees.

The Future

By Jan. 12, state and federal park officials say they will pay $29.5 million to Bob Hope for most of the parkland acreage. Ahmanson Land Co. must discuss street improvements with Los Angeles County and the cities of Los Angeles and Calabasas. Court challenges have been threatened.RELATED STORY: B4