Partners Try to Resolve Ahmanson Deal Snags

Prospective partners in the Ahmanson Ranch deal met Thursday to overcome final roadblocks to an agreement to build the massive housing project in eastern Ventura County, but negotiators would not reveal the results of the meeting.

Entertainer Bob Hope and representatives of Ahmanson Land Co. and Hope’s developer met at Ahmanson’s corporate offices in Irwindale, but officials of the companies did not return phone calls.

And government officials who are usually kept abreast of the status of the $1-billion project said they either had not been updated Thursday or could not comment on what they knew.

Spokesmen for two park agencies that stand to gain 10,000 acres of mountain land from the deal said they are in no position to talk about the negotiations.

Located just over the Ventura County line, west of Canoga Park and north of Agoura Hills, the project would create a community of 8,600 residents. The deal also would turn over about 10,000 acres of mountain land--7,000 of which is owned by Hope--to the conservancy and the park service.

It has been opposed by groups on the Los Angeles side of the line, particularly in the San Fernando Valley, who contend that Ventura County would reap all of the tax benefits from the project while its environmental impacts, especially large amounts of traffic, would spill over into the Valley.

The complicated deal has been teetering between completion and destruction for several days.

David Gackenbach, regional superintendent of the National Park Service, said that even though his agency is to contribute $19.5 million to the deal, he does not know what is happening in private negotiations between the developers.

Gackenbach said representatives from Hope and his development partner, Potomac Investment Associates, told him Wednesday that they were ready to close the deal, but Ahmanson has hesitated signing a final agreement.

The park service superintendent said he is weary of Ahmanson’s reticence and plans to withdraw the money from escrow Monday if he is not told by late today that the deal is close to completion.