More property preserved as open space in Agoura Hills





By John Loesing
Acorn Staff Writer

Agoura Hills officials report "significant headway" has been made toward the acquisition of more open space for the city, including a deal recently finalized with property owner Vance Moran that will keep 129 acres of Ladyface Mountain in its natural state.


Moran, owner of Whizin’s Shopping Center, offered to make the donation to the city in 1999, but the deal stalled when an appraiser told Moran the property was worth less than he thought.


The donation, which now includes more than 50 acres below the 1,100-foot elevation mark, is worth $6.4 million, Moran said.


Property below 1,100 feet in the city can be commercially developed and has more value. By including the lower altitude acreage, Moran was able to increase his tax writeoff and complete the deal, according to officials.


"This has been a long term goal of the city and of Mr. Moran to put that property into permanent, protected open space," said City Councilman Ed Corridori.


Moran said that 35 years ago he and his former partner, the late Art Whizin, wanted to build a restaurant on top of Ladyface, but later changed their minds because they wanted to keep the mountain undeveloped.


Moran said he also turned down an offer of $5 million from an outside developer who wanted to build a theme park on top of the mountain.


"I can go to bed at night knowing nothing will ever be built on that mountain," Moran said. "That makes me feel so good."


With its commanding views of Conejo Valley, Las Virgenes and beyond, Ladyface Mountain was said to be an important lookout point for the Chumash Indians.


Title to Moran’s property will be transferred to the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, but the city of Agoura Hills will maintain a conservation easement over the site.


Moran said he would keep an additional 22 acres at the foot of the mountain— at southwest corner of Kanan and Agoura roads—for the possible development of a 200,000 square-foot shopping center.


Three years ago, Agoura Hills approved an Open Space Preservation Action Plan aimed at identifying and acquiring key properties in the city that were deemed environmentally sensitive and unsuitable for development.


Moran’s property is part of about 1,600 acres of open space that the preservation plan will try to protect.


Another recent open space acquisition is an 80-acre hillside parcel on the south side of Agoura Road, just west of the Renaissance Hotel. The donation, worth a reported $1 million, comes from Mark Scheu, president of Agoura Hills Corporate Point, LLC.


Scheu still plans to develop the lower portion of his property, a 25-acre parcel that fronts Agoura Road.


"To come this far in this short amount of time is truly amazing," said Mayor Denis Weber, lauding the city’s efforts to preserve open space.


Landowner David Tohl owns 52 acres near the Scheu property and is considering donating that land as well.


But Keith Gurnee, the consultant in charge of the open space plan, said the city is encountering resistance in some parts of town. The Southeast Ridge area, east of Cornell Road, contains more than 100 open space parcels that the city would like to acquire, but has been unable to accomplish.


"We have talked to the landowners to see if we can get the first domino to fall so that others might follow," Gurnee said.


The city also has its eye on preserving about 13 acres in the northwest corner of the city. The property is part of a 27-acre site owned by Las Virgenes Unified School District that straddles Lindero Canyon Creek.


Planning to build a new elementary school for the city, the district requires property on only on one side of the creek. The city wants the other side to remain permanent open space.


Previous open space acquisitions inside the city include the 107-acre Al Abrams property in Liberty Canyon. The Conservancy will manage that property as it does many others.


Last year, landowner Dean Rasmussen gave 150 acres of open space just east of Sumac Elementary School. Two years ago, Larry Thomas donated more than 60 acres that lies to the northeast of the Rasmussen property.


Several smaller lots have been donated to the city as well.



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