FROG, FLOWER WON'T KILL IT REPORT: AHMANSON RANCH ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS CAN BE FIXED.

Byline: Cecilia Chan Staff Writer

VENTURA - Two sensitive species apparently won't stop the controversial Ahmanson Ranch development from going forward, according to a long-awaited environmental report released Tuesday.

The 3,050-home project would kill some of the rare San Fernando Valley Spineflower and could also harm the endangered California red-legged frog, but the effects could be mitigated, Ventura County planning consultants said.

The report - 1,000 pages long - said conservation programs and a redesign of the 2,800-acre project by developer Washington Mutual would ``create additional off-site populations'' and mitigate the impact on the frogs and flowers.

Public hearings will now be held, with Ventura County supervisors expecting to vote on final approval in the fall.

Opponents immediately opened the possibility of a legal battle, slamming the supplemental environmental impact report for failing to address such issues as traffic and water.

They demanded a new EIR - saying the initial document certified by Ventura County supervisors in 1992 was outdated.

``Our general reaction is really dismay,'' said Chris Albrecht, an HBO executive and co-chairman of Rally to Save Ahmanson Ranch, an umbrella organization for groups opposed to the project.

``The issue of water quality and the issue of traffic and air quality are two of the most important aspects of why we feel this project is disastrous for the region.''

Ventura County officials say the 1992 EIR sufficiently dealt with traffic and other issues still being raised by opponents.

A spokesman for Washington Mutual, the parent company of the project, called Tuesday's supplemental report ``daylight'' at the end of a long process and said the company hopes to break ground in 2003.

``What stands out most is that this draft report concludes all the potential adverse effects can be avoided, fully offset through the implementation of mitigation measures,'' said Washington Mutual spokesman Tim McGarry.

``This confirms what we have said for some time - that we can protect the species and build the project. This view is now confirmed by an independent evaluation, i.e., this report.''

The report will be reviewed for 45 days, with its first public hearing scheduled for April 17 before the county environmental report review committee.

During that time, critics said, they will lobby local officials and blanket the public with information about the project.

The planned new community would be located in Ventura County but would be accessible only via Los Angeles County roadways.

``Our next step is to inform the public and inform the residents of Ventura County exactly what is going on and put pressure on the Ventura County Board of Supervisors to wait until after the election so voters' wishes are respected,'' said activist and producer Rob Reiner, co-chairman of Rally to Save Ahmanson Ranch.

Two candidates running in the March 5 election for the Ventura County Board of Supervisors have indicated a need to replace the original EIR, and Reiner said the board should withhold action until a new panel is seated.

``We will get the information out there for the public and the Board of Supervisors to do the right thing and order up a new EIR,'' Reiner said.

``There is the possibility of legal challenges,'' he said if the supervisors fail to call for a new full-blown study. ``There are very interested parties, environmental groups and cities that will be challenging this.''

Unless there are legal roadblocks, the Ventura County Board of Supervisors is expected to vote on the document and the tract map for Phase A of the development sometime in September or October.

Ventura County officials asked Washington Mutual for a supplemental study after the endangered California red-legged frog and the San Fernando Valley Spineflower were discovered on the site in 1999.

The supplemental report concluded that the development in the southeast corner of Ventura County can mitigate impacts to concerns such as air, water and schools for the most part to ``less than significant.''

``It's a bunch of baloney,'' Mary Wiesbrock, chairwoman of Save Open Space, said of the frog's ability to survive the development. She also said too much has changed since the project was first proposed to move it forward as planned.

``We would hope that Ventura County would vote to do a new EIR, listen to all the environmental groups, listen to the concerns of five cities and one county,'' said Wiesbrock, who has battled the project for years. ``Obviously, we'll consider legal action if they don't listen to the people.''

Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky called the environmental document incomplete and wants the entire project scrapped.

``I believe (Los Angeles) county will reserve all of its options, including legal options, on this matter,'' Yaroslavsky said.

Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Woodland Hills, also called for a new environmental document.

``I don't know how this supplemental report comes out favorable to this project. It just demonstrates what we need is a complete environmental impact statement,'' Sherman said.

However, Ventura County Supervisor Frank Schillo said there's nothing more the county can do to stop the project - regardless of who is elected in March to replace him.

``There's no reason for a new EIR. They've already been through an EIR. We'd just get sued,'' Schillo said. ``I'm already elected and I can't do anything about it.''

McGarry, the Washington Mutual spokesman, said the project is a model community that has been studied to death.

``The county decision-makers now have all the information to move forward,'' McGarry said. ``We see daylight.''

Staff Writer Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.

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