| In the interest of speed and timeliness, this story is fed directly from the Associated Press newswire and may contain spelling or grammatical errors. |
CALABASAS, Calif. (AP) Gov. Gray Davis, standing on a wind-swept hill on the edge of Los Angeles, announced Wednesday the state has put together $150 million needed to acquire the sprawling Ahmanson Ranch property and keep it as open space.
``I have long believed we should try and develop park land in urban areas where the people live so they don't have to drive three or four hundred miles to enjoy some of the magnificent natural bounty of this state,'' Davis told a throng of celebrities and public officials.
Opponents of a plan to put thousands of houses on the property turned out to heap praise on the governor, who is the target of next week's recall election.
``There has been no greater champion of the environment in California than Gray Davis,'' said director Rob Reiner, co-chairman of Rally to Save Ahmanson Ranch.
Others who attended included actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, state Attorney General Bill Lockyer, and commentator Arianna Huffington who until this week was a candidate to replace Davis. Huffington, who dropped out of the race Tuesday, said she now opposes the recall.
Washington Mutual acquired the property in 1998 and planned to build a 3,050-home community in the rolling, oak-dotted hills along the Ventura-Los Angeles County line.
The open-space plan now goes to the state Public Works Board on Oct. 10. If approved, the governor's office said escrow is expected to close on the state's purchase within two months.
Washington Mutual's proposed development would have brought an additional 8,000 people to the area, resulting in 37,500 more vehicle trips per day, according to an environmental impact report.
``By preserving these almost 3,000 acres of open space we have protected our air, we have protected our water, we have protected the habitats of five endangered species, we have preserved 5,000-year-old Chumash burial grounds,'' said Reiner.