SIMI VALLEY : Planner Will Hear Ahmanson Request

A request from developers of the Ahmanson Ranch housing project to extend Thousand Oaks Boulevard from Los Angeles County 1,000 feet to the Ventura County line will be the subject of a hearing before a Los Angeles County planning official today.

The Ahmanson Land Co. wants to extend Thousand Oaks Boulevard from Mountain Gate Drive in Los Angeles County across the Ventura County line, which would also require a permit to remove nine oak trees.

The extension would be one of two main entrances into the development, which calls for 3,050 dwellings, two golf courses and 400,000 square feet of commercial space to be built in the rolling hills southeast of Simi Valley.

The Ahmanson project, approved by the Ventura County Board of Supervisors in December, 1992, has been stalled because of lawsuits filed by Los Angeles County and others who would be affected by traffic created by the project.

A Ventura County judge, however, earlier this month upheld the Board of Supervisors’ decision to approve the project and ruled that the development’s environmental impact report met all state guidelines.

Some Los Angeles County planning officials want to use the issue of the roadway extension to try to force Ahmanson Land Co. to pay for major traffic improvements in the area--beyond what the developer has proposed--that could run as high as $18 million, Ahmanson officials charge.

“It seems to us that the county of Los Angeles is asking too much,” said Steven Weston, Ahmanson’s attorney.

Weston said there is also a dispute among different jurisdictions as to whether Thousand Oaks Boulevard should be widened in Los Angeles County. Officials from the city of Calabasas and Los Angeles County have already expressed concerns about how traffic from a major thoroughfare would affect their communities.

Regional Planning Hearing Officer Ray Rastic will preside over today’s hearing regarding Ahmanson’s request. If the developer’s proposal is rejected, Ahmanson can appeal the decision to the Regional Planning Commission.