ROGAN SEEKS FUNDS FOR PARCEL APPRAISALS.

Byline: Lee Condon Daily News Staff Writer

Rep. James Rogan, R-Pasadena, has requested $20,000 in federal funding to pay for two independent appraisals of a 238-acre hillside parcel in Glendale where developers want to build 572 homes.

Locals and elected officials are attempting to find a way to buy the property from the developers of Oakmont V and preserve the land as open space.

Rogan wants the appraisals because current estimates of the land value range from as low as $4 million to $47 million, making it difficult for public officials to strategize in terms of buying the property.

``The preservation process cannot move forward until a fair market value is established,'' Rogan wrote in a letter to the chairman of the House subcommittee of U.S. Department of Interior Appropriations. ``A broad coalition of local residents support preserving this steep-terrained natural acreage.''

The appraisals are the first step in applying for federal funds to purchase public open space, said Jeff Solsby, a spokesman for Rogan. The Department of the Interior requires three appraisals of property before it will consider purchase requests. Rogan is asking for funding for two appraisals because there is already one existing appraisal of the property, Solsby said.

Gregg Development Inc. has been planning Oakmont V for more than a decade, delayed by the early 1990s recession and a legal battle with the city of Glendale over its hillside ordinance.

Under the terms of a settlement with Glendale, the developers may be able to proceed without having to abide by the terms of the hillside ordinance, which was passed in 1992. That law by some estimates could limit the number of homes the developers could build to just 100.

At the urging of residents legislators have taken up the cause of attempting to buy the property in cooperation with the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy.

Developer Lee Gregg could not be reached for comment Monday. But he has said in the past that the company has no plans to sell the property, in part because the $5 million price suggested by those interested in buying is too low.

Rogan's pitch is the latest in a series of legislative maneuvers related to a public purchase of Oakmont V.

State Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Pasadena, has submitted a budget request asking for $5 million to acquire the land. Assemblyman Scott Wildman, D-Glendale, has introduced legislation asking that state laws regarding eminent domain be changed so that land can be taken at its undeveloped value rather than its potential value.

Rob Sharkey, president of the Glendale Homeowners Coordinating Council, said he is ``delighted and encouraged'' by Rogan's request.