HOMEOWNERS ASK CITY TO SELL BITS OF GOLF COURSE LAND.

Byline: Sylvia L. Oliande Daily News Staff Writer

Four homeowners involved in land disputes with the Rancho Simi Park and Recreation District will try to convince the board of trustees tonight to sell a portion of public golf course property that they thought was their own.

The board had voted on the lion's share of the residents' requests to purchase land belonging to the Simi Hills Golf Course in December.

But a few homeowners along Texas Avenue were held over while the district gathered more information, prolonging the often-contentious debate over the property.

The board is expected to approve the sale of several pieces of flat land, primarily to retain the swimming pools and patio decks that were built on property residents thought was theirs.

But the board also is expected to hold fast to its decision not to sell sloped land, as some have requested to even out their boundary lines.

``If we sell one, we'll have to sell to everyone,'' park board trustee Gene Hostetler said Wednesday. ``We'll be back at square one and where do we go from there?''

``I don't think the board is going to change its position on slopes,'' Hostetler added. ``But then again, it never snows in Simi Valley, but it has.''

District officials want to hold on to the sloped property on the western edge of the golf course to create a buffer zone to keep stray golf balls away from the homes.

Since sloped land is often more difficult to maintain because of the chance that it might slide, the district wants to have greater control over it.

When the boundary lines are finally redrawn and the issue settles down, the district plans to landscape the sloped property for the golf course.

The land dispute between the residents and the park district started in 1995, when a survey of the district's property identified several areas where residents unknowingly had been using district land.

While some landowners have taken the issue in stride, others have been vocal in their opposition to the way it was handled. Residents had been told by the housing developer and surveyors that sections of district land were actually their own back yards.

The differences were about 19 to 45 feet, often creating irregular property lines and cutting right through landscaping and swimming pools.

When the discrepancies were found, the district grappled over how best to handle it. While there were few laws governing the sale of public land to private people, it also made sense to simply sell the land to some of the homeowners rather than try to recover it.

In 1996, the district decided to sell the land to those among the 34 affected residents who wanted the property, and asked the others to move their fences back to the proper line.