3rd District Rivals Agree They Oppose Ahmanson

Developers of the Ahmanson Ranch project will continue to face hard-line opposition from a new 3rd District member of the Los Angeles City Council, as candidates for the post outlined strategies Tuesday to blunt the negative effect of the project on the west San Fernando Valley.

All five candidates who attended a forum at the West Valley Jewish Community Center in West Hills voiced opposition to the housing development as presently proposed, but they differed on what to do.

Two favored lawsuits; others supported new negotiations to get the developer to provide additional funding for traffic improvements.

Washington Mutual Inc., the owner of Ahmanson Ranch, plans to develop 2,800 acres of open land west of Los Angeles with 3,005 homes and office and retail construction, a project that has drawn opposition from 3rd District City Councilwoman Laura Chick, who is running for city controller.

Those vying to succeed Chick in the April 10 election agreed Tuesday that the additional traffic that will be generated from Ahmanson Ranch will further clog an already congested freeway and street system in the West Valley.

“The Ventura Freeway is past its maximum capacity at this time,” said Los Angeles Police Sgt. Dennis Zine, a candidate from West Hills.

It is estimated that the development will generate an additional 36,540 daily car trips on surrounding streets, many of which would go into the West Valley.

Zine vowed to pursue any action necessary to stop the project and to oppose creating new access roads that would allow traffic from Ahmanson to pour onto West Valley streets. “I will do whatever I can as a member of the City Council to block the movement [of more cars] into the West Valley area.”

Francine Oschin, a candidate from Reseda who is an aide to City Councilman Hal Bernson, said she also would take the developers to court.

“I am prepared to join with other cities in a lawsuit to stop it,” Oschin said. “I don’t think it can be mitigated.”

She said the $1.6 million that Washington Mutual has offered Los Angeles to mitigate traffic congestion is “pocket change that buys you almost nothing.”

Businesswoman Tsilah Burman, a candidate from Woodland Hills, said even the threat of new litigation can be used as leverage to force the Ahmanson developers into new negotiations to increase their offer of funding for reducing the impact of traffic on Los Angeles.

“They are afraid we are going to sue them,” she said. “We can use that to our advantage to get more money for mitigation in the West Valley.”

One way to reduce the impact on traffic, Burman said, would be to build a mass transit system from the North Hollywood subway station to the Ahmanson Ranch area.

Community activist Judith Hirshberg, an Encino candidate, downplayed the chance of blocking the project in the courts. Several lawsuits have already failed to kill the project.

“Frankly, we cannot stop what is going up there,” she said. “It’s not ours to stop.”

Instead, Hirshberg said the city can negotiate for more funding from Washington Mutual and use it for shuttle buses serving the area and for traffic control devices, such as signs barring left-hand turns, to block cars from Ahmanson from going through West Valley surface streets.

“What we have to do is make certain we can divert traffic off streets where we have residential areas,” Hirshberg said.

Candidate Jason Dominguez, a deputy city attorney from Van Nuys, also said Los Angeles does not have legal grounds to block the project in courts.

Dominguez, who has criticized other candidates for their ties to City Hall, said the project is an example of failed vision by Los Angeles officials.

“The problem has to do with the city’s lack of leadership when the project was initiated,” he said.

Instead of taking an antagonistic approach, the city should have worked with the developers to provide more protection for West Valley residents, Dominguez said.

He proposed a direct roadway from the Ahmanson project to the Ventura Freeway so cars don’t use West Valley surface streets. Dominguez also said the project points up the need for a better regional mass transit plan.

The sixth candidate, city building inspector Frank Bush of Reseda, did not attend the forum, but said in an interview later that he opposes the project in its current form and would work to obtain more concessions from the developer, including a scaling back of the size of the project.

Tim McGarry, a spokesman for the Ahmanson project, said that in addition to the $1.6 million being paid to Los Angeles, the developer is providing traffic improvements in Ventura County and is paying for a shuttle bus between the development and Warner Center. “We do feel this amount will effectively mitigate Ahmanson Ranch’s contribution to traffic in the city of Los Angeles,” McGarry said.

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3rd District City Council Race

All six candidates oppose the Ahmanson Ranch development in its current form but they differ on what to do about it.

Tsilah Burman

Says developers should pay more to ease impact of traffic

Frank Bush

Would work toward scaling back the development

Jason Dominguez

Proposes direct roadway from project to Ventura Freeway

Judith Hirshberg

Stresses negotiating for more traffic diversion methods

Francine Oschin

Favors lawsuit to halt development

Dennis Zine

Vows to try to stop the project