CLOCK IS TICKING FOR RANCH LOT OPPONENTS : TUESDAY IS DEADLINE FOR SUIT VS. DEVELOPER.

Byline: Michael Coit Daily News Staff Writer

Time is running out for opponents of the Ahmanson Ranch project, who must decide by Tuesday whether to keep fighting the massive housing development in court.

The Ventura-based 2nd District Court of Appeal twice has rejected lawsuits by opponents of the mini-city planned for 5,433 acres in southeastern Ventura County next to the Los Angeles County border. The state Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal on the first lawsuit and opponents must ask the court by Tuesday to hear an appeal on the second lawsuit.

Leading the fight against the development approved by the county Board of Supervisors in 1992 are the group Save Open Space, the city of Calabasas and the Mountain View Estate Owners Association.

Rosemary Woodlock, the Save Open Space attorney, said the parties likely will take their battle to the state's highest court because ``we are very concerned'' with the court rulings that have favored the developer and the county. She contended that the rulings are an attack on state environmental laws.

``It appears there's no court that's willing to say (Ahmanson and the county) did something bad,'' Woodlock said.

Ahmanson Land Co. officials have defended the project's environmental study and touted the development's role in helping to preserve parkland. Ahmanson officials were not available for comment because the offices are closed for the holidays.

The project calls for 3,050 homes, two schools, four parks, a 300-room hotel and two golf courses.

Under the original developer agreement, Ahmanson had until December 1995 to acquire four ranches totaling 9,949 acres and transfer them to the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority. Two years ago, the supervisors granted the project an extension until December 1998.

State and federal parks agencies have helped purchase two of the properties - Jordan Ranch and Liberty Canyon - for about $27 million. Runkle Ranch and Corral Canyon remain under the ownership of entertainer Bob Hope.

Many opponents urged the supervisors to reject the extension so park agencies could purchase the remaining lands without the development.

The extension, however, gave opponents hope of blocking the project in court. Opponents filed the second lawsuit based on a contention that the county should have required additional environmental studies two years ago based on new information impacting the development.

The new information namely is the listing of the tidewater goby as a federally protected endangered species and new concerns over chemical contamination from the Rocketdyne field lab just north of the Ahmanson site.

``The courts have ignored the law because environmental law demands further study on those two issues,'' said Mary Wiesbrock, president of Save Open Space.

Ventura Superior Court Judge Barbara Lane ruled in July 1995 that further study was not warranted when the county extended the deadline for Ahmanson to acquire public parkland. The judge said the change was not ``substantial'' and that a supplemental environmental report was not required under state law. The appeals court upheld Lane's ruling this past November.

The appeals court rejected the first lawsuit by opponents in October 1995. The justices said the project's environmental report was adequate, rejecting claims that the report was inadequate and failed to deal with projected traffic congestion problems.

Wiesbrock said the fight against Ahmanson has been frustrating. ``We're just about at the end of any way to block it.''