Supervisors Favor 3-Year Extension for Ahmanson : Simi Hills: Three board members don’t fault developer for ongoing delays. Approval in a vote today would extend the contract through 1998.

A majority of the Board of Supervisors apparently favors Ahmanson Land Co.’s request for a three-year extension of its deal to build a mini-city in the Simi Hills.

Refusing to blame the developer for delays in turning over thousands of acres of public parkland, three of five supervisors said they tend to support Ahmanson’s request today for a grace period that would extend its county contract through 1998.

“To me, there is no controversy here,” said Supervisor Maria VanderKolk, whose district includes Ahmanson Ranch. “The county routinely extends developments every day.”

Supervisor Vicky Howard also said she continues to support the Ahmanson project. And Supervisor John K. Flynn said he probably will vote for the contract extension after a 1:30 p.m. hearing at the County Government Center.

“We’re not changing anything, other than just the time frame,” Howard said.

The existing agreement calls for Ahmanson to acquire entertainer Bob Hope’s Runkle Ranch and Corral Canyon properties by December, 1995, and to sign over the 4,700 acres to state and federal park agencies.

If the company fails to deliver the parkland, the county will automatically revoke the developer’s permits to build 3,050 dwellings, a town center, two golf courses and a 300-room hotel on rolling hills at the Los Angeles County line.

Hamstrung by lawsuits that have stalled the project for two years, Ahmanson wants the deadline for acquiring Hope’s properties extended to December, 1998.

Environmental groups and nearby cities have joined Los Angeles County in legally challenging the project, arguing that it would clog area freeways with 37,500 vehicle trips a day, and worsen San Fernando Valley smog.

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Ahmanson’s agreement with Ventura County requires that 10,000 acres of mountain ranch property be turned into public parks. But only part is now owned by the public.

In gaining approval for its new community in late 1991, the company agreed to sell four Hope ranches totaling about 7,300 acres--Jordan, Runkle, Corral Canyon and Liberty Canyon--to park agencies for $29.5 million. Park officials considered that price far below market value. The company also agreed to donate 2,600 acres of Ahmanson Ranch as parkland.

But as the lawsuits dragged on, park agencies decided to spend $26.7 million to buy just two of Hope’s ranches, Jordan and Liberty Canyon. Still, as the deal is currently constructed, the park agencies would pay no more than $29.5 million because of side agreements between the developer and park officials, they have said.

Ahmanson’s request for more time to turn over the 10,000 acres was rejected last month by county planning commissioners, who decided that the company knew lawsuits were inevitable when it agreed to the original deadline.

Howard and VanderKolk said that Ahmanson had no way of knowing how long the litigation would take, and should not be penalized for the delays.

But park officials who helped negotiate the original deal are concerned that it may eventually fall apart, even with the new 1998 deadline.

Their main fear is that Ahmanson may one day offer to decrease the size of its project and offer cash incentives to the county, instead of delivering the promised parkland, said Joseph T. Edmiston, executive director of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy.

To ensure that Ahmanson adheres to its agreement, Edmiston wants county officials to require the developer to do a costly new environmental study if any changes are made.

“We need to get that in writing,” he said. “It should be etched in stone.”

But VanderKolk and Howard said the Ahmanson deal is already airtight. The company must turn over the parkland before building a single structure.

“If in 1998, if they can’t do it for whatever reason, they know they have no project,” said VanderKolk, an architect of a compromise that increased parkland in the deal to 10,000 acres.

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Allen Camp, Ahmanson’s lead attorney on the project, declined Monday to comment on the company’s request.

But in an earlier interview, Camp hinted that the developer may have trouble following through with the plan. He said Ahmanson had no idea how much Hope’s properties would cost or even whether Hope still intends to sell them.

“The prospect of acquiring the open space is uncertain,” Camp said recently.

He said if Hope’s ranches prove to be too expensive, the developer may ask the county for help in acquiring the property, possibly through eminent domain.

If this were to happen, he said, a court would decide on a price, and Ahmanson would then reimburse the county for its purchase.