Ahmanson Foes Told Not to Drop Fight

Although the opposition drive against the Ahmanson Ranch project was dealt a seemingly fatal blow recently when its developer secured key pieces of land to donate as open space, a consultant has told Calabasas city officials not to give up just yet.

Steve Craig, a environmental planning consultant, told city leaders and an audience of a few dozen staunch Ahmanson opponents at a council meeting Wednesday night that it’s too early to count the opposition out.

“I don’t see any great urgency at this point,” he said. “There are many hurdles [developers] will have to cross before they get the first spade in the ground. The first steps in this will take years.”

He advised the council that it will have to monitor the process as the project advances and participate in all opportunities to critique the plan.

Mary Trigg, spokeswoman for Home Savings of America, parent company of the Ahmanson Land Co., agreed that the permit processes for the project would take from 12 to 18 months. But she said the company expects they will move smoothly toward approval.

After hearing testimony from a handful of residents who fought along with Calabasas and others trying to stop the project, the City Council restated its promise to do what it could to defeat the plan.

With renewed vigor, local environmentalists and residents objected to the amount of traffic they fear the project would bring to the city’s major streets and urged the council to be proactive.

Calabasas resident Ted Rosenquist suggested the city establish a citizens’ task force to look into its options and solicit ideas from residents, taking advantage of expertise some may bring to the discussion.

The developer recently reached an agreement to purchase two sites needed for open space from entertainer Bob Hope, one of the conditions of its approval from Ventura County.

The Ahmanson Ranch project includes 3,040 homes, a 400,000-square-foot commercial complex, two schools, a 300-room hotel and two golf courses.