Ahmanson Ranch

Regarding Hugo Martin's "Till the Cows Come Home" [Aug. 2]. It's true! But I think there is only one black cow left now, and I've seen it three times in the last three years on the hill between Cheeseboro Canyon and Ahmanson Ranch. I exercise my horses on Ahmanson Ranch several times a week. I see it only in the spring when the grass is green. It's always on the same hills between the two parks. Chris Whittaker Calabasas

A new trailhead will provide access to trails in the lush, rolling hills of the former Ahmanson Ranch just west of Woodland Hills. At noon on July 2, the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy will open a trailhead at the west end of Victory Boulevard that will access the new Upper Los Virgenes Open Space Preserve. It's been nearly two years since the conservancy purchased the 2,983-acre ranch to preserve the land and prevent development.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's office has asked a state parks agency to reconsider a developer's request to build a mile-long emergency access road across the Ahmanson Ranch preserve so a new residential subdivision can be constructed nearby, prompting protests from environmentalists and elected officials.

In the late 1980s, Mary Wiesbrock took up a new cause: She wanted to stop a plan that would have plopped 3,050 new homes on Ahmanson Ranch in the Simi Hills. Wiesbrock lived in the area and had previously railed against billboards she thought were cluttering up hillsides. She believed the development was a horrendous idea that would only bring more traffic, pollution and sprawl. So, she fought it. And won.

The Sizzler chain of steak restaurants is getting a grilling over the planned $2-billion Ahmanson Ranch residential development north of Los Angeles. It's not that Sizzler, a division of Sherman Oaks-based Worldwide Restaurant Concepts Inc., is looking to open a new location at the controversial site. Rather, Sizzler has drawn protesters because Worldwide's chairman, Phillip D. Matthews, also serves on the board of Washington Mutual Inc.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to challenge the proposed Ahmanson Ranch development by suing Ventura County and its supervisors. With little discussion, the Los Angeles supervisors instructed the county's lawyers to file the lawsuit.

The Los Angeles City Council agreed Wednesday to file a lawsuit to block the 3,050-home Ahmanson Ranch development, alleging that the Ventura County Board of Supervisors failed to require adequate studies of the project's effect on traffic, air quality and water before giving its approval.

Several environmental groups announced Friday they will file a lawsuit alleging that Ventura County officials improperly approved the latest review of the 3,050-home Ahmanson Ranch project near Calabasas. Ventura County supervisors, on a 4-1 vote, approved the environmental analysis last month despite expert testimony that it would worsen air and water pollution and harm wildlife in the area, said John Buse, attorney for the Environmental Defense Center in Ventura.

The city of Los Angeles filed a lawsuit to block the 3,050-home Ahmanson Ranch Project, alleging that the development was approved without sufficient study of its impact on surrounding communities. The suit asks Ventura County Superior Court to set aside an environmental study on the project and issue an injunction.

The city of Los Angeles filed a lawsuit Tuesday to block the 3,050-home Ahmanson Ranch project, alleging that the development was approved without sufficient study of its negative effects on the surrounding communities. "We are trying to get the Ventura County Board of Supervisors to comply with the California Environmental Quality Act and consider the true traffic impacts of their plan, and follow the general plan," said Special Assistant City Atty. Cecilia Estolano.