Burden on Ahmanson to Deliver Land : Development: Project can’t go forward until Bob Hope’s two other mountain properties are public parkland. Pending lawsuits may delay action.

With the sale of Bob Hope’s Jordan Ranch to the National Park Service this week, officials said Friday that the burden now falls on the Ahmanson Land Co. to deliver two other Hope properties to park agencies if it wants to move forward with its giant housing project in eastern Ventura County.

Under conditions set by the Ventura County Board of Supervisors, the $1-billion Ahmanson Ranch project, which would create a mini-city of 8,600 residents, cannot go forward until Hope’s other mountain tracts become public parkland. These include the 4,369-acre Runkle Ranch northeast of Simi Valley and the 339-acre Corral Canyon tract in Malibu.

But the fate of the Ahmanson Ranch project may be on hold for months, while the developer weighs the potential impact of nine lawsuits and high demands for payouts from the cities of Los Angeles, Calabasas and Malibu, and from Los Angeles County.

“Obviously, the lawsuits are the next issue,” said Joseph T. Edmiston, executive director of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, who helped engineer the $16.7-million Jordan Ranch purchase disclosed on Thursday. “Those have to be resolved in some relatively favorable fashion to Ahmanson or else they’re not going to go forward.”

Ahmanson officials released a short statement Friday saying they were pleased with the sale of Jordan Ranch and are working “diligently to pursue resolution of the litigation that has been filed in connection with the environmental impact report for the Ahmanson Ranch plan.”

Mary Trigg, a spokeswoman for the developer, said officials would have no further comment.

Supervisor Maria VanderKolk, the county official most involved in the Ahmanson Ranch deal, said she does not expect Ahmanson to make offers for Hope’s other properties until the pending lawsuits are settled. Otherwise, she said, the developer would run the risk of paying millions of dollars to Hope but still be unable to proceed if the lawsuits kill the project.

Nonetheless, VanderKolk said she thinks the Jordan Ranch acquisition moves the development deal forward because Ahmanson at least will not have to come up with the money to purchase Jordan Ranch. She said the developer was faced with that prospect if the National Park Service money had been committed to another land acquisition next week, as many anticipated.

“I think it’s an optimistic step,” VanderKolk said of the Jordan Ranch purchase. “I think it places emphasis back on what is good about this deal. It gives people a feeling of security, that we’re serious about acquiring all of these properties as parkland.”

It has not been disclosed how much Hope will be willing to settle for to let go of his Runkle Ranch and Corral Canyon properties.

Although numerous reports said that Hope would accept a below-market $29.5 million for all of his mountain properties, that was only the amount to be paid by park agencies.

He would still receive additional undisclosed payments or guarantees from Ahmanson. To proceed with its project, Ahmanson will have to meet Hope’s price, minus the $16.7 million paid for Jordan.

Hope was out of town Friday, but his spokesman, Ward Grant, said Hope “is happy this is settled, and now he’s gone fishing.”

Grant declined to discuss what Hope’s price would be for the remaining properties.

Meanwhile, the purchase of Jordan Ranch represents a key acquisition for the Santa Monica National Recreation Area, a unit of the National Park Service that is stitching together a network of mountain parks and trails in Ventura and Los Angeles counties.

“Jordan Ranch is a very critical parcel” because it represents another key swath of protected wildlife habitat, said David Gackenbach, regional superintendent of the National Park Service. The 2,300-acre tract abuts the 2,150-acre Cheeseboro Canyon tract, which is already part of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.

“Cheeseboro Canyon right now is not large enough or sufficient enough itself to be habitat sustaining,” Gackenbach said.

Moreover, Gackenbach said the Jordan Ranch acquisition preserves a key part of the wildlife corridor that runs from Simi Valley to the Pacific Ocean.

He said it could be four to six months before Jordan Ranch is opened to the public. A resident now living on the property must be given 90 days notice to vacate, and additional time may be needed to move cattle off the land.

Mary Wiesbrock, president of Save Open Space, an environmental group critical of the Ahmanson project, said Friday it was through the efforts of her organization that Jordan Ranch was not lost to development.

Until two years ago, Hope was trying to build a golf course and luxury housing development on the sprawling tract.

Park service officials essentially conceded that the property would be developed and were considering giving Hope a sliver of federal land for road access to his project in return for a portion of his Jordan Ranch acreage. But that plan was abandoned in the face of strong public opposition, including Wiesbrock’s group.

“We played hardball and it worked,” Wiesbrock said. “This is great that we saved Jordan Ranch, and now we can work to try to see that Ahmanson is not destroyed by this massive development.”

Jordan Ranch and Parkland Deals

Here is a look at special features of the newly purchased Jordan Ranch and other proposed parkland acquisitions in the Santa Susana and Santa Monica Mountains. Included are Runkle Ranch near Simi Valley and Corral Canyon in Malibu that must be aquired before the giant Ahmanson Ranch housing project can go forward.

1. Jordan Ranch: The 2,308-acre parcel in eastern Ventura County was acquired this week from Bob Hope by the National Park Service for $16.7 million. The ranch’s oak-lined Palo Comado Canyon and grassy China Flat are considered among the most magnificient areas in the Simi Hills. It will join the adjacent Cheeseboro Canyon as part of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. Jordan Ranch could be opened to the public within four to six months.

2. Liberty Canyon: 400-acres in the Simi Hills that includes a key wildlife habitat connected to Cheeseboro Canyon. Purchased last year for $10 million by the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, a state park agency.

3. Runkle Ranch: 4,369 acres in the Santa Susana Mountains owned by Bob Hope. Features include oak-studded meadows dotted with wildflowers, rugged cliffs around Blind Canyon, archeological treasure trove in Fossil Ridge.

4. Corral Canyon: 339-acres, also owned by Hope, in Malibu. Overlooks Pacific Ocean, with views of Channel Islands and Orange County. Bluffs covered with coastal sage; year-round stream lined with sycamores.

5. Ahmanson Ranch Project: A mini-city planned at eastern edge of Ventura County. The $1-billion development calls for 3,050 residences and two golf courses to be built on the sprawling sheep ranch in the rolling hills south of Simi Valley. Under conditions stipulated by the Ventura County Board of Supervisors the project cannot go forward until all three of Hope’s properties become public parkland.