NEWBURY PARK : Red Tape Halts Sale of Broome Ranch

The long-awaited acquisition of Broome Ranch for a backcountry park hit a snarl of red tape Monday, but officials said a deal to sell the 640-acre tract to the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy was still on track.

Final approval of the conservancy’s $4.2 million bid for Broome Ranch was pushed back until Sept. 30, due to a legal dispute between the George P. Huck estate, which owns the ranch, and Union Bank, which holds a deed on the property, officials said.

Bank officials disagree with representatives of the Huck estate over “who gets first crack at the money” once the sale of Broome Ranch goes through, said Mario Piatelli, an auctioneer in charge of selling the former barley farm near Newbury Park.

That dispute will be decided at a hearing Sept. 14, and a probate court judge is scheduled to formally rule on the sale two weeks later.

The delay frustrated conservancy Executive Director Joseph T. Edmiston, especially because developers now have an additional six weeks to come up with enough cash to out-bid the park agency.

Auctioneer Piatelli said he was not actively looking for another buyer, and predicted that “in today’s market, nobody’s going to show up.” He had hoped to sell the ranch, which carried a list price of $12 million, for at least $5.5 million. But the conservancy’s bid was the best all-cash offer he got.

At the National Park Service, Regional Supt. David E. Gackenbach said the federal government would reserve enough money to buy at least 147 acres of Broome Ranch from the conservancy when the deal finally wins approval.