Ahmanson Foes Dealt New Setback

Ventura County planning commissioners were within the law when they went on private field trips to the ranchland where Washington Mutual Bank wants to build thousands of homes, a county judge ruled Friday.

Judge Henry J. Walsh’s decision shot down another attempt by Calabasas and other Ahmanson Ranch opponents to delay the project, which will get another look Tuesday by the Ventura County Board of Supervisors.

As the would-be neighbors of the 3,050-home development, Calabasas and residents of Los Angeles and Ventura counties on Monday sued Ventura County, its Planning Commission and bank subsidiary Ahmanson Land Co., seeking a court order stalling the Ahmanson approval process.

Calabasas’ attorney argued the planning commissioners should have alerted the public before they visited Ahmanson Ranch to examine Washington Mutual’s plans to protect the endangered red-legged frog and spineflower, and should have invited anyone who was interested to join them.

Planning hearings last month resulted in the commissioners voting 3 to 2 to endorse a new supplemental environmental study of the development completed earlier this year. County supervisors will take up the report Tuesday. Their approval would allow the long-delayed project to begin next year.

From the start of the brief hearing Friday, Walsh was skeptical that the commissioners’ trips violated California’s open-meetings law and would compromise the county supervisors’ evaluation.

“Where’s the irreparable harm here if these proceedings are allowed to continue?” Walsh asked Calabasas’ lawyer, Katherine Stone. Stone replied that the commissioners heard only one side of the controversial development at the ranch -- the developer’s -- and that “irreparably tainted” their decision.

Staring over his reading glasses, the judge countered: “There were two days of public hearings after those field trips took place,” offering adequate time for Ahmanson opponents to rebut the builder.

Defending Ventura County, County Counsel Frank Sieh said anything the commissioners learned on their field trips was included in documents available to the public before the hearings.

“No new information or different information was received by the commissioners on which their decision was based,” Sieh said.

The planning commissioners toured Ahmanson Ranch in October and November, but no more than two went on each trip. Planning staff members chaperoned to ensure commissioners did not confer on how they would vote. The arrangement satisfied Walsh that the visits did not constitute an illegal meeting.

“This project has received intense scrutiny for a number of years,” the judge said. “There is nothing that is being hidden from the public.”

The coalition fighting to stop the development of Ahmanson Ranch would like to delay any approvals related to the project until after Jan. 6. That is when Ventura County Supervisor-elect Linda Parks, an Ahmanson opponent, takes over for Frank Schillo, who supports the project. Parks’ inauguration might shift the board to oppose the project.