half the amount of grading allowed without a conditional use permit. This reversed the extensive development policies of county leaders in the 1980s and early 1990s. Opponents denounced the ordinance as an arbitrary and unrealistic "land grab." But it had the backing of the board majority, the National Park Service and the California Department of Parks and Recreation, among others. The following year, Yaroslavsky was credited with being the key to finalizing a complex $35-million deal to preserve a 588-acre swath of "mostly pristine woodlands" in the Santa Monica Mountains for use as parkland. The Los Angeles Times called the protection and purchase of the land from Soka University a "major environmental achievement," noting that Yaroslavsky and others had worked for months to bring together a coalition of agencies and residents to find the purchase money. The historic property—named King Gillette Ranch after the razor blade tycoon who once owned the land—is now open to the public. Transportation As a county supervisor, Yaroslavsky sat on the board of directors of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. In 1998, citing concerns about the MTA's mounting internal problems, growing debt and myriad subway construction mishaps and cost overruns, Yaroslavsky sponsored a controversial ballot initiative, Proposition A, to prevent transit sales tax monies from being used to build underground rail lines. Yaroslavsky argued that mass transit could be achieved less expensively and more efficiently through light-rail and dedicated busways than through subways at a cost of $300 million per mile. Critics portrayed Proposition A as too extreme and argued that it would prevent subways from coming to the county's minority neighborhoods. But county voters, including those in heavily minority areas, overwhelmingly supported Yaroslasky's MTA Reform and Accountability Act. In the meantime, Yaroslavsky pushed for a 14-mile dedicated busway that would cut through the San Fernando Valley on paved right-of-ways. It was nicknamed the "Napkin Line" because Yaroslavsky drew the route on a Varig napkin while flying home from studying a similar system in Curitiba, Brazil. Officially called the "Orange Line," the $350-million busway began service in 2005 and soon achieved ridership numbers that far exceeded planners' predictions and led to better freeway commute times. "This is one of Metro's greatest success stories," the agency's deputy CEO said. Money was restored to subway construction and other major transit projects in 2008, when county voters approved a half-cent sales tax measure promoted by Yaroslavsky and Los Angeles