Rally to Save Ahmanson Ranch Cranks Up Its Campaign

James Allardice
Mirror staff writer

   Now in “Phase 2” of their campaign against Washington Mutual’s proposed Ahmanson Ranch development, members of Rally to Save Ahmanson Ranch demonstrated at the company’s banks all across Los Angeles last Saturday, April 6.
   The first, and largest, rally was held at the Washington Mutual Bank in Studio City, at Ventura and Laurel Canyon Boulevards, where Rally to Save Ahmanson Ranch co-founder Rob Reiner joined forces with representatives from the Surfrider Foundation, the Natural Resources Defense Council, Heal the Bay, the Sierra Club and Save Open Space for a press conference, decrying the Bank’s plans to develop 3,050 luxury homes in the Santa Monica Mountains.
   Following the rally and press conference, supporters broke up into teams and dispersed to hand out flyers at Washington Mutual banks throughout Los Angeles.
   Locally, individuals protested outside Washington Mutual at Fourth and Broadway in Santa Monica and at the Pacific Palisades branch on Sunset.
   “Everything went off really well,” Alan Reed of the Surfrider Foundation said. “We are trying to put a halt to the Ahmanson Ranch development, which is owned by Washington Mutual. They [Washington Mutual] are really serious about completing the project, but the bottom line is that no one wants it to happen.”
   Washington Mutual owns 2,800 acres located on the eastern edge of Ventura County, and proposes building a “planned city” on what is the largest remaining undeveloped privately owned piece of land in the area.
   According to the developers, fewer than 8,400 individuals will call the “village” home, and everyone will live within a 10-minute walk of the town center.
   The planned development has come under scrutiny from environmental organizations, and director/actor Reiner, actor Martin Sheen and others have spoken out against the development, urging area residents to join them in fighting it.
   “They are creating a city with over 3,000 luxury homes at the headway of Malibu Creek,” Reed said. “This area is already in dire need of environmental protection. This development would almost end any hope of making environmental progress along the Malibu Creek.”
   Those opposed to the development argue that it will put an additional 45,000 cars per day on the Ventura Freeway and Pacific Coast Highway. “This could have a real daunting environmental effect,” Reed said. “Just imagine trying to fit another 45,000 cars onto those existing freeways … And there are a plethora of other negative environmental things that can happen if this does happen.”
   The developers say that more than $14 million will be spent for intersection and non-freeway improvements in the Ahmanson Ranch area, $3.7 million of which will be in Los Angeles County.
   In late February, Reiner and Rally to Save Ahmanson Ranch co-founder Chris Albrecht appointed Chad Griffin as the director of their campaign. Griffin is a former House aide and California political veteran, having managed the successful campaigns of Proposition 10 and No on 28. During a stint in the White House, Griffin served on the staff Press Secretary Dee Dee Myers and Communications Director Mark Gearan. When he was named to head the campaign, Griffin said, “I … will work to ensure that every resident in Southern California and particularly the customers, neighbors and shareholders of Washington Mutual Bank are aware of this environmentally disastrous development.”
   The next move for the group will a bus trip up the coast to stage a protest at a Washington Mutual stockholders meeting at its Seattle headquarters.
   The Ahmanson Ranch development was first approved by the County of Ventura in 1992. As part of the 1992 deal, 10,000 acres of land were set aside as open space. For five years following the County’s approval, the developers found themselves mired in numerous lawsuits. Five years later the suits were either settled or dismissed.
   The final piece of open space was turned over by the Ahmanson Land Company in 1998, allowing the development to move forward. In 1999, the California Red-Legged Frog, an endangered species, was found on the development site, along with the San Fernando Valley Spineflower — which had not been seen since 1929.
   Upon the discovery of these two endangered species, environmental groups mobilized, garnering more support for the anti-Ahmanson Ranch development and causing Ventura County to order a Supplemental Environmental Report. More recently, activists were encouraged by the passage of two statewide bond measures to preserve more open space.
   Ahmanson Ranch developers hope to break ground in 2003, with a final completion date of 2010.