$1 Million Put in Parks Bill to Preserve Movie Ranch

SACRAMENTO — The Assembly is expected to act next week on an all-purpose parks bill that includes a provision to revive a $1-million appropriation to preserve a one-time Simi Valley movie ranch known as Hopetown.

After inserting the appropriation, the Assembly Ways and Means Committee, by a 16-3 margin, approved the bill Wednesday and sent it to the floor.

The measure, by Sen. Dan McCorquodale (D-San Jose), redirects more than $2 million Burbank received in 1985 to help purchase land in Cabrini Canyon. That project cannot be completed, so the bill would allow Burbank to keep at least $1 million to improve and develop parks in the Verdugo Mountains. It would divert another $1 million for Hopetown.

Former Movie Location

The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, which buys open space, is seeking the $1 million as seed money to preserve Hopetown, where Hollywood’s cowboys and Indians once fought amid the sandstone bluffs and chaparral-covered hills.

“This will enable us to use money for improvements and acquisition and it will be a first-class park if the bill goes through,” declared Joseph Edmiston, executive director of the mountains conservancy.

Gov. George Deukmejian last year vetoed a $1-million appropriation for Hopetown because it was contingent on the outcome of a bond measure the Legislature was expected to place on the ballot. If voters approved the bond issue, Deukmejian said, the Legislature could resubmit the project for review.

But that plan hit a snag when the bond measure failed to reach the ballot. So Edmiston persuaded McCorquodale this week to put the funds into the parks bill.

Edmiston said it is urgent to earmark the funds for Hopetown before the end of the year. He said the 172-acre ranch, owned by entertainer Bob Hope, is under option to Griffin Development Co.

Griffin Homes plans to build houses on 40 acres of the ranch, with the rest of the land to be preserved for the park.

Other Funds Available

As part of the purchase deal, the City of Simi Valley and the Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District would chip in $760,000 for the project.

The ranch is between the Simi Valley Freeway and an industrial park in the southeast corner of Simi Valley.