Agoura Hills joins the bandwagon, sues Ahmanson Ranch

By John Loesing Acorn Staff Writer

Construction of Ahmanson Ranch seems poised to begin now that final approval has come from the Ventura County Board of Supervisors, but a new round of litigation brought forth by several neighboring cities could cause further delays in the already 10-year-old project.

Agoura Hills, which previously chose to avoid the courts, changed direction last week and decided to sue the 3,050-home development.

The cities of Los Angeles and Calabasas also are taking legal steps to stop construction, but Westlake Village reportedly will stay on the sidelines during this new spate of courtroom filings.

Since the supervisors first approved Ahmanson Ranch in 1992, more than half-a-dozen cases have been filed in Ventura County and Los Angeles County courts. Each time, the developer has prevailed.

Agoura Hills says its concerns about traffic have been ignored and that it’s time to take action.

"We’re about to spend upwards of $25 million on the Kanan Road interchange and what mitigation that provides will be to some great extent undone if Ahmanson is allowed to proceed," said Agoura Hills Mayor Jeff Reinhardt.

The cost to improve the crowded interchange amounts to $2,000 per household in Agoura Hills, according to Reinhardt. He said Ahmanson Ranch will spend only $65 per household for its share of the improvements.

"Our traffic engineer has filed numerous documents that have been ignored, so no we have not sat the sidelines," Reinhardt said.

"I think it would be fairer to say we have exhausted the conventional methods of weighing in and having our concerns considered. We don’t see litigation as a first resort. Quite frankly it’s a last resort."

City officials fear more cars will clog Kanan Road as Ahmanson students are brought to Oak Park schools.

Reinhardt said the city’s funds, not those from Ahmanson Ranch, are paying the brunt of the interchange cost.

The lawsuit would give Agoura Hills more clout in requesting developer improvements, said City Councilman Denis Weber.

"If there’s any mitigation proposed, Agoura Hills needs to be at the table," Weber said. "Without us being party to any litigation, that couldn’t happen."

Specifically, the city is suing Ventura County under CEQA, the state’s 1970 environmental quality act that requires full environmental review of development projects.

The 1999 discovery of two endangered species at the development site—the California red-legged frog and the San Fernando Valley spineflower—required developers to prepare a new environmental impact report.

The board of supervisors approved the new study by a 4-1 vote in December, but Reinhardt called the report "defective" and "flawed." A new traffic study wasn’t included in the report, which inflamed the opponents even more. City officials didn’t say how much money would be earmarked for the lawsuit, only that they would "monitor costs closely."

Calabasas has been fighting the development in the courts for almost a decade, reportedly spending more than $2 million in the process.

Opponent Save Open Space, a local environmental group, tried unsuccessfully to sue Ahmanson Ranch over the transfer of open space and the assignment of water rights.