Ahmanson Foes Seek Review by Supreme Court

Arguing that an appeals court judge overlooked two important environmental issues when he dismissed a lawsuit against the massive Ahmanson Ranch development, foes of the project said Tuesday that they have appealed the decision to the state Supreme Court.

Rosemary Woodlock, an attorney for the environmental group Save Open Space, said she petitioned the state highest court to review the Ventura County Board of Supervisors’ approval of the 3,050-home community near Simi Valley.

Woodlock said the site could have been contaminated by materials from the nearby Rocketdyne rocket-testing facility and that the development would threaten a tiny endangered fish, the Tidewater goby, that was added to the federal endangered species list after the project was approved in 1992. The headwaters of Malibu Creek, where the fish has been found, are within Ahmanson Ranch.

“There is a new endangered species, and the court ignored that issue entirely,” Woodlock said.

Woodlock also said that revelations that chemical and even radioactive waste could have blown over from the Rocketdyne facility and contaminated the ground on Ahmanson Ranch also surfaced after the project was approved. But 2nd District Court of Appeal Judge Paul Coffey ignored that issue too, she added.

“There are no studies to see if the soil is contaminated,” said Mary Weisbrock, one of the founders of Save Open Space. “It is a public health and safety issue. You can’t put people there unless studies are done.”

But Woodlock admitted that getting the case heard by the Supreme Court would not be easy.

“It’s very hard to get anything heard by the Supreme Court because they have so many cases,” Woodlock said. “But we think this is a good issue. If the Endangered Species Act doesn’t mean anything, then what do we have it for?”

Ahmanson Ranch officials, who have fought numerous court battles since the development was approved, said their top priority is to resolve the legal challenges and proceed with the project.

“We think that the environmental impact report that was done for the project in 1992 was really comprehensive,” said Mary Trigg, spokeswoman for Ahmanson Ranch. “We’ve been working our way through the legal battles for a number of years now. [The foes of Ahmanson Ranch] have tried various methods to stop the project, and this is one of those methods.”