State Won’t Overpay for Ahmanson Land

State officials are eager to buy the 2,800-acre Ahmanson Ranch on the western edge of the San Fernando Valley, but will not overpay for it, California Resources Agency Secretary Mary Nichols said Tuesday.

“It’s a special property, but it’s not a special deal,” Nichols said in an interview. “We cannot and should not cut any corner in the acquisition.... The message I got directly from the governor is ... be sure it meets all of the criteria.”

Nichols’ comments came a day after a spokesman for Washington Mutual, the owner of the ranch, confirmed that discussions with the state had begun. Her caution against overspending reflects an increasing concern by some public officials and environmentalists that money from recent bond issues for land and wildlife preservation not be spent only on a few high-priced projects.

In the Los Angeles area alone, Ahmanson Ranch joins a long list of projects seeking state funds, including a potential 500-acre purchase at the Ballona Wetlands near Marina del Rey and a possible 100,000-acre purchase on the mountainous Tejon Ranch north of Santa Clarita to complete a key wildlife corridor.

The price for the Ballona Wetlands would likely exceed $100 million; Ahmanson Ranch has been valued at $300 million and more; and Tejon Ranch’s more rural acreage could easily cost tens of millions, sources close to those deals have said.

Under Proposition 50, passed last year by voters, at least $336 million is available specifically for projects in Ventura and Los Angeles counties. Ahmanson is in easternmost Ventura County, on the Los Angeles County line. At least $550 million has been set aside for Southern California overall for parkland and wildlife habitat, according to the Resources Agency.

“There are always choices to be made with any limited pot of funds,” Nichols said. “There is probably a push and pull going on.... One thing I learned in my job is that every Californian is a real estate expert. They all know how much property is worth and how much should be paid for it.”

Nichols said she thinks there will be enough money to buy both the Ballona Wetlands and Ahmanson Ranch. “Yes, there should be,” she said.

The Tejon Ranch deal is further from fruition and likely would not be funded, at least by the state, until the economy improves and voters approve another round of funding for land preservation, she said.

Another large project is the $100-million restoration of the 1,200-acre Bolsa Chica Wetlands near Huntington Beach. But Nichols said that project would not compete with those in the Los Angeles-Ventura area for funds.

Overlooking the western edge of the San Fernando Valley, the Ahmanson Ranch, a rolling landscape long used to graze cattle and sheep, is a mix of oak woodlands and grass savannas that is the largest privately held parcel in the Santa Monica Mountains.

It is ranked as the No. 1 acquisition target by the state’s Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, an arm of the Resources Agency, Nichols said. The high rating is a result of the land’s value as open space in an urban area, its importance as a wildlife corridor and its location at the head of the Malibu Creek watershed, she said, adding that the land is also perfect for hiking and family outings.

“It’s really a multiple-purpose acquisition and that’s what we’re looking for,” she said. “[And] there is strong local support for doing this acquisition.... It’s definitely a factor that the public cares about this particular property.”

Nichols said that Washington Mutual, which acquired the property when it bought the H.F. Ahmanson Co. in 1998, has indicated that the window of opportunity for a state purchase will be brief and that it will continue with development plans if a deal is not sealed by the time a current lawsuit is resolved. The owner has been talking with developers about building on the property, she said.

Statewide, as costly projects have lined up for a finite pot of state money, environmental groups have sometimes questioned appraisals justifying high-profile purchases.

That has happened in the Ballona Wetlands negotiations, and a new appraisal has been ordered by the state.

A Resources Agency board was bombarded with negative publicity earlier this year for the $100-million purchase of the Cargill salt ponds near San Francisco Bay. And state Sen. Byron Sher (D-Stanford) is pushing a bill that would require public examination of land deals involving public money before they are completed.

Nichols defended the Cargill purchase. And she said that too much public inspection, including open property appraisals before deals are done, would end negotiations because most owners would not endure it.

Since the first of four water, parks and land preservation bonds was passed in 2000, the state has set up an elaborate system for identifying sites for acquisition in nine California regions, Nichols said.

“So we know in a very concrete sense what the working priorities of the agency are,” she said. “I have that list, and I refer to it frequently.”

The list does not name properties because that would inflate their sales price. Instead, it identifies them by a description of their attributes.

Ahmanson Ranch’s attributes put it high on the state’s list, she said.

Washington Mutual sees the ranch as a logical answer to a state housing crisis. And as part of its original deal with Ventura County, ranch owners have already helped turn over 10,000 acres of mountainous open space to park agencies.

But residents of surrounding communities see the ranch as an environmental treasure that would be destroyed if it were converted to a 3,050-home golf course community, as proposed.

The $2-billion project, first approved in 1992, has been blocked ever since by more than a dozen lawsuits, studies of a rare frog and an endangered wildflower and then, last year, by a costly, high-profile campaign led by Hollywood celebrities.

The project is still tied up in court in a lawsuit filed by several Los Angeles County jurisdictions after Ventura County gave the project the green light again in December -- approving a new environmental study.

Project opponents say they are encouraged by Washington Mutual’s willingness to talk with state officials about a sale.

“I am thrilled that there might have been an opening of the door,” said state Sen. Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa Monica). “But the deal all depends on the money. There may be a significant disconnect, even when you have a willing seller, between their asking price and what the state will pay.”