Ahmanson Firm Threatens to Sue Over Web Site

The developer of the Ahmanson Ranch housing project has sent a sharply worded letter to open space advocates, warning them to dismantle a popular Web site created in opposition to the project or face legal action in federal court.

The site--www.ahmanson.org--was set up last fall by the nonprofit group Save Open Space to spread information about the proposed 3,050-unit development, which opponents say would destroy vast grasslands studded by oaks that are home to sensitive animal and plant species.

But this week, the group received a letter from Ahmanson Land Co.’s lawyers demanding that Save Open Space surrender its Internet domain name or face a lawsuit. The letter states that the group has unlawfully used a trademarked name and has interfered with the company’s ability to provide information via the Internet.

Save Open Space has until Tuesday to surrender its Internet domain name or face legal action in U.S. District Court for trademark infringement, unfair business competition and cyber piracy, the letter states.

Thousand Oaks resident Paul Nicholson, the Save Open Space volunteer who created the site, said group members have contacted lawyers and are trying to decide what action to take. But he said members are inclined to fight the matter.

“I really think it is a bullying tactic,” Nicholson said. “We think that their case is without merit. They are claiming that Ahmanson Ranch is their trademark.”

Nicholson argues there is no trademark issue, because the nonprofit organization set up its site as a “dot-org” Internet location rather than a “dot-com.” He believes Ahmanson is trying to silence opposition to the project.

But a spokesman for Ahmanson’s parent company said that is not true.

“We are not concerned with suppressing criticism here, but preserving our trade name,” said Tim McGarry, a spokesman for Seattle-based Washington Mutual Inc., which owns the 5,000-acre property.

“We do expect to break ground in 2002, and use of the name will be a key part in that effort,” McGarry said. “That is our prime reason for what we communicated to SOS.”

McGarry said the company’s demands are supported by recent federal case law.

Since its creation last October, Save Open Space’s Web site has drawn about 100 hits a day, Nicholson said. He said it has been an effective tool in communicating the group’s concerns about the housing development southeast of Simi Valley.

As proposed, the project would be built on 2,800 acres in Ventura County along the Los Angeles County line. The development was approved by the Ventura County Board of Supervisors eight years ago, but lawsuits and other delays have halted construction.

Environmentalists and several Los Angeles area officials have fought the project by contending it would overdevelop a rural area and add heavy traffic to already congested roadways, especially in Calabasas and Woodland Hills.

In addition, the San Fernando Valley spineflower, a plant once thought to be extinct, and the endangered California red-legged frog were recently found on the property and have prompted further environmental review.

Last week, state Sen. Tom Hayden (D-Los Angeles), whose district abuts the site, said he wants the state to spend $10 million to buy sensitive habitat and watershed areas on the property. Hayden hopes to persuade the developer to sell portions of the ranchland.