Ahmanson Ranch foes say they will target Washington Mutual throughout California, up, down West Coast

Acorn Staff Writer


MICHAEL PICARELLA/The Acorn  BANKING ON A DEMONSTRATION--Public figures participate in picketing Washington Mutual in Studio City. The financial institution plans to develop Ahmanson Ranch. From left to right are: Calabasas City Councilwoman Janice Lee; actor/director Rob Reiner; L.A. County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky (with back to camera); and U.S. Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks).

MICHAEL PICARELLA/The Acorn BANKING ON A DEMONSTRATION–Public figures participate in picketing Washington Mutual in Studio City. The financial institution plans to develop Ahmanson Ranch. From left to right are: Calabasas City Councilwoman Janice Lee; actor/director Rob Reiner; L.A. County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky (with back to camera); and U.S. Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks).

Washington Mutual opponent and actor-director Rob Reiner helped launch the second phase of the Rally to Save Ahmanson Ranch campaign last Saturday morning at the Washington Mutual Bank on Ventura Boulevard in Studio City.


Several dozens of people gathered in front of the bank with picket signs to catch the attention of Washington Mutual customers. Many signs listed other Washington Mutual Banks that can expect a visit in the immediate future.


Washington Mutual plans to develop Ahmanson Ranch, overlooking the San Fernando Valley. The $2 billion, 3,050-home, two-golf course project on a 2,800-acre site of oak trees and grassy plains may offer help in a housing crisis expected to only get worse in Southern California.


This development was first approved in 1992, but met major obstacles. Public opposition to the proposal started quickly and grew fast. Discovery of the endangered San Fernando Valley spineflower and the California red-legged frog (thought to have been extinct) also delayed the project.


Reiner—who is co-chair of Rally to Save Ahmanson Ranch—and others are against the development because they fear more pollution of air and water, the daily addition of 45,000 more vehicles on the Ventura Freeway and destruction of a historical site and Chumash Indian burial grounds, to name a few.


"We’re here today to let (Washington Mutual customers) know what their bank is doing," Reiner said. "This is only the beginning."


Reiner and others will visit every Washington Mutual Bank in Los Angeles and Ventura counties to make the public aware of the situation, he said.


"A week from today," Reiner said, "(many opponents to the project) will take a bus trip from here to Seattle (Washington Mutual’s headquarters), stopping at all Washington Mutual banks."


Other celebrities, politicians, environmentalists and local residents are against the development of Ahmanson Ranch. They will join hundreds of volunteers in the "Stop Washington Mutual Bank Coalition" campaign to share their opinions with customers of Washington Mutual banks.


"We all know Washington Mutual’s expensive attempt to mislead the public and hide the true impacts of their development," Reiner said. "However, today we will be directly informing and empowering people that Washington Mutual can’t ignore. Their customers are soon going to know that in Southern California, free checking comes with a price—congested roads, dirty air and polluted water."


Also there to support Reiner and the Rally to Save Ahmanson Ranch group were U.S. Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks), L.A. County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky and Calabasas City Councilwoman Janice Lee.


Opponents of Washington Mutual were peaceful, but some bank customers were upset with the protest. Only one entrance—the back one—was available to enter and exit the Ventura Boulevard bank. Some customers, according to Adrian Rodriguez, Washington Mutual first vice president and regional public relations representative, were inconvenienced with the large group of protestors in front of the bank. Customers complained about the hassle, Rodriguez said.


Regarding the development, Rodriguez said he’s very positive that Washington Mutual will build Ahmanson Ranch. The plans, he said, will protect the environment and the endangered species.


The design itself has won awards for environmental excellence, according to Tim McGarry, Washington Mutual vice president and corporate public relations representative.


But in a public forum held in a special city council meeting later last Saturday afternoon, many speakers, including area resident and actor Beau Bridges, all Calabasas city councilmembers and Yaroslavsky, said the supplemental EIR (environmental impact report) for the development was taken in 1992. The facts and traffic figures have changed greatly since 1992, Yaroslavsky said.


Washington Mutual should donate the land so that it can remain open space, Yaroslavsky suggested. It would be a huge tax writeoff for them.


"They don’t need this project," he said.


"This is a good project that needs to be built," McGarry said. The Warner Center in Woodland Hills will have many new jobs available in the future due to expansion, he said, and where are those people—who fill those jobs—going to live?


The project will pump $2 billion in development and construction fees into the area economy over the next decade, sources said, create 1,700 permanent jobs and 500 construction jobs, and will generate more than $20 million in sales tax revenues for Los Angeles and Ventura counties.


The development will also allow a total of 85 percent open space, according to McGarry.


Many issues surround the Ahmanson Ranch development on each side.


To learn more about the opposition and their concerns, log onto www.StopWashingtonMutual.com.


To learn more about the development itself and Washington Mutual’s stance, log onto www.ahmansonland.com.




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