L.A. COUNTY PUTS OFF VOTE IN AHMANSON; INSPECTION OF THREATENED OAKS SET.

Byline: Dave Greenberg Daily News Staff Writer

The Los Angeles County Regional Planning Commission on Wednesday put off a decision on an appeal of Ahmanson Land Co.'s permit to build a road to its 3,050-home development in Ventura County.

The commission wants county planners to determine by Feb. 3 whether a conditional-use permit is needed for future grading of a 700-foot extension of Thousand Oaks Boulevard just outside of Calabasas to the Ventura-Los Angeles county line.

``The planning commission wants to go out to inspect the site and view the oak trees that may be impacted prior to the continued hearing,'' said Julie Moore, a Los Angeles County case planner. ``They like to go out to look at the sites, particularly if there is opposition. And this is a case that came to them on appeal.''

The Los Angeles County zoning ordinance states that grading 100,000 cubic yards or more requires a conditional-use permit on top of the permit under appeal to rip out 10 oak trees blocking the extension, she said.

Although Ahmanson lawyer Steven Weston acknowledged that his company will grade more than that amount, he said a conditional-use permit is not needed because the dirt will not be transported through neighborhoods or by schools and churches.

``The fill material is going to go straight from the Ahmanson Ranch site to the Thousand Oaks Boulevard area,'' he said. ``It's totally uninhabited.''

The cities of Los Angeles and Calabasas filed the appeal of the permit four years ago.

Mary Wiesbrock, a member of Agoura Hills-based Save Open Space activist group, said the permit request was originally intended to disguise the planned freeway bypass.

``It's a wolf in sheep's clothing,'' she said. ``They want a freeway bypass through residential neighborhoods. It will bring traffic from the (Ventura Freeway) . . . creating noise, air pollution and traffic gridlock.''