Park Pullout Jeopardizes Ahmanson Project : Development: The agency withdraws $19.5 million earmarked for public land acquisition. An official says it can’t wait any longer for the deal to close.

In a move that threatens to kill the massive Ahmanson Ranch housing project, the National Park Service on Friday withdrew $19.5 million that had been set aside to buy thousands of acres of mountain land as part of the complex development deal.

David Gackenbach, regional superintendent of the park service, said the money was withdrawn from escrow because partners in the $1-billion project have failed to close the deal, despite three months of negotiations.

“Enough is enough,” Gackenbach said. “There has been sufficient time for them to do all they need to do.”

Gackenbach said the park service could wait no longer because the money has been sitting in a no-interest account since Jan. 22.

“Life goes on,” he said. “We’re not lacking for other properties to buy.”

Representatives of the Ahmanson Land Co. could not be reached for comment Friday, nor could entertainer Bob Hope or a spokesman for his development partner, Potomac Investment Associates.

Approved by the Ventura County Board of Supervisors in December, the Ahmanson Ranch project would create a mini-city of 8,600 residents in the rolling Simi Hills. And it would turn over 10,000 acres of mountain land--7,000 owned by Hope--to the National Park Service and the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, a state park agency.

The board’s approval is contingent upon the mountain property being placed in public ownership.

The park service holds the linchpin for the deal because it is providing $19.5 million of the $29.5 million that Hope will get from the park agencies for three of his ranch properties.

Gackenbach said Ahmanson had promised to sign final development agreements soon after the project was approved. But negotiations have now dragged on for months, with Ahmanson ignoring numerous deadlines set by the park service.

The deal has been delayed because Hope, Ahmanson and Potomac have not been able to agree on how to split up profits from the project or how to write fallback provisions in case lawsuits filed against the development are successful and it is never built. Hope’s spokesman, Ward Grant, said the entertainer is “not asking for more money,” as some observers have speculated. He declined to elaborate on the status of negotiations.

Ahmanson has maintained for months that its profit margin from the deal is being whittled away by a bad economy, nine lawsuits, unexpectedly high demands for payouts from the cities of Los Angeles, Calabasas and Malibu, and a $20-million demand from Los Angeles County for road improvements.

Ventura County Supervisor Maria VanderKolk, the county official most involved in the project, said Friday that the deal could easily fall apart.

“I know Ahmanson is not willing to move further along at this time because of the lawsuits,” she said. “They’re looking at the bottom line of how much risk is involved, and there’s too much uncertainty to know how the lawsuits will come out.”

Other government officials said Friday that the park service should have given the developers more time.

“I think they acted prematurely,” said Ventura County Supervisor John Flynn. “Considering all the work that’s gone into this project, they shouldn’t have taken the step they did.”

Flynn said the action does not mean the deal is dead. “There’s still some opportunity,” he said.

Richard Sybert, head of Gov. Pete Wilson’s office of planning and research, said he also remained optimistic. The Ahmanson project has received a strong endorsement from Wilson because of its parkland benefits.

“I don’t think the park service’s action is irreversible,” Sybert said. “It might even have the effect of spurring some resolution.”

Sybert said he felt that most of the lawsuits against Ahmanson lacked merit, but Los Angeles County’s $20-million demand for road improvements may be a different matter.

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 the tax revenue and other benefits.

The project would result in 37,540 vehicle trips on Los Angeles County roadways when it is completed in 14 years. It would also extend the blanket of smog that frequently covers the nearby San Fernando Valley, according to the environmental report.

If the Ahmanson deal collapses, VanderKolk said she hopes the park service will still be able to use the $19.5 million to purchase Hope’s 2,308-acre Jordan Ranch east of Thousand Oaks and his 339-acre Corral Canyon property near the Pacific Ocean. Both properties are included in the Ahmanson package.

Joseph T. Edmiston, executive director of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, said he remains “cautiously optimistic” that the Ahmanson deal is still alive.

Gackenbach said it could be a week to a month before the park service’s money is committed to another parkland acquisition. He said he would put the money back into escrow only if Ahmanson gave him a written and legally binding guarantee that the deal had been sealed.

Otherwise, he said, the money would probably be used to complete the purchase of the 314-acre Paramount Ranch in Agoura. The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy has already placed a $4.3-million down payment on the $17.5-million ranch just north of Mulholland Highway.

Meanwhile, the conservancy has already taken steps to ensure that it does not lose the chance to acquire at least some of Hope’s mountain property should the Ahmanson deal fall through.

On Wednesday, the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority, the acquisition arm of the conservancy, voted to work out a backup plan to buy first rights to Hope’s Runkle Ranch property if the development deal collapses.

The plan calls for the conservancy to pay Hope an undisclosed amount of money to secure an option on his 4,369-acre Runkle Ranch northeast of Simi Valley. That property also is included in the Ahmanson deal.