Housing Project Hits New Snag

State water officials said Wednesday an environmental study of the 3,050-home Ahmanson Ranch housing project on Ventura County’s southeast boundary should not advance through the approval process until questions about water quality are answered.

Melinda Becker, supervisor of the California Regional Water Quality Control Board’s pollution division, requested an extension of a public comment period so concerns raised by state officials can be addressed.

The comment period was scheduled to close Wednesday, after hours of public debate by opponents and supporters of the project. But there were so many speakers that a Ventura County committee reviewing the analysis agreed to continue the hearing until May 8.

The Environmental Report Review Committee will decide then whether to formally extend the comment period, panel Chairman Bruce Smith said.

At Wednesday’s public hearing, held at the Hall of Administration in Ventura, Becker told committee members the state agency is concerned about several issues it believes are not adequately addressed. They include the amount of waste water generated by the subdivision, pollution levels in Malibu Creek’s downstream watersheds and storm-water runoff.

Heal the Bay, the Sierra Club and other opponents repeated the water quality questions raised by the state board.

But Steve Weston, attorney for developer Ahmanson Land Co., said the water issues will be addressed when the project goes before the Regional Water Quality Review Board for a separate review.

“We fully expect to satisfy the water board when we go before them,” Weston said.

The Environmental Report Review Committee is going over technical aspects of the environmental study to ensure they comply with state law.

If approved, the study would move to the Ventura County Planning Commission and then the Board of Supervisors.

An initial environmental review was approved in 1992. But a follow-up study was ordered in 1998 after biologists hired by the developer found two endangered species on the ranch lands--the red-legged frog and the San Fernando Valley spineflower.

Biologists determined that both species would be affected by the proposed subdivision but said steps could be taken to keep them from harm. Environmentalists, several Los Angeles County politicians and Rally to Save Ahmanson Ranch, an opposition group formed by Hollywood director Rob Reiner, have criticized the report.