Ahmanson Ranch Project Attacked at EIR Hearing

THOUSAND OAKS —  Two dozen critics of the proposed $1-billion Ahmanson Ranch project told the Ventura County Board of Supervisors on Wednesday that an environmental study of the new mini-city is seriously flawed and that the development should not be built in the rolling hills near Calabasas.

But an equal number of speakers at the four-hour hearing supported the Ahmanson Land Co.’s plan to build a 3,050-dwelling golf course community on 2,800 acres at the Los Angeles County line.

Generally, critics and supporters split along county lines, with residents of Ventura County and Los Angeles County on opposite sides of the debate.

“This is a situation in which the county of Ventura will reap the financial benefit . . . while dumping traffic” into Los Angeles, said Los Angeles Councilwoman Joy Picus. “We must protest this lack of concern for your neighbors.”

Ventura County speakers overwhelmingly favored the controversial proposal because of what they saw as Ahmanson’s environmental sensitivity and a provision that would turn over 10,000 acres of parkland to state and federal agencies as part of the deal.

“Look at the benefits of having that open space in our county,” Westlake resident Fred Priebe said.

About 200 people packed an auditorium in Thousand Oaks to comment on the study of environmental effects of the massive project. Of the 49 who took a position, 24 favored it and 25 did not.

Despite numerous requests for more time to respond to the 3,000-page environmental study, the Board of Supervisors closed the period of public comment and set Nov. 24 for a final vote on the adequacy of the study.

Once certified, the report will be forwarded to the Board of Supervisors for final hearings and a vote, scheduled for Dec. 15.

A majority of the five supervisors--who have said they favor the project in concept--said they heard nothing Wednesday that sounded like a fatal flaw.

“In general I do think that the open space that the county would acquire is a tremendous asset that once lost may never be regained again,” said Ventura County Supervisor Vicky Howard of Simi Valley.

The environmental analysis, released in September, finds that the Ahmanson project will have unavoidable and significant impact on air quality, traffic and the rural environment of the Simi Hills.

The new community eventually would dump 37,540 cars a day onto nearby roadways, help extend the blanket of smog that frequently covers the nearby San Fernando Valley, and destroy mature oak trees and rare grasslands on the sprawling cattle ranch, the report says.

The project would transform part of the ranch into an upscale mini-city with 8,700 residents, a 300-room hotel, two professional-quality golf courses, and a town center of dozens of shops and government buildings.