Conservancy Offers $3.5 Million for Parcel

The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy is offering $3.5 million to buy and preserve 352 acres of environmentally sensitive land along the banks of the Big Tujunga Wash where a developer wants to build an 18-hole golf course.

But a spokesman for the developer dismissed the offer Tuesday as too low, saying it would not even cover what has been spent on designing and planning the project.

“I think it’s absurd the amount that has come out of their appraisal,” said Mark Armbruster, a lawyer for the developer, the Foothill Golf Development Group.

Last week, the Los Angeles City Council delayed a vote on construction permits for the golf course project to give the conservancy a chance to buy the land. But with a formal rejection of the conservancy’s bid expected soon, the project will probably return to the council Tuesday for final approval.

The conservancy’s appraisal compared the land to six other properties in the Los Angeles Basin with similar characteristics.

Joseph Edmiston, executive director of the conservancy, conceded that the offer is probably too low to interest the owner, but pointed out that the agency is “prohibited by law from offering more than the fair market value.”