School District’s Plea Rejected on Sale of Its Land

A Ventura Superior Court judge on Tuesday affirmed an earlier decision ordering the Moorpark Unified School District to sell the city of Moorpark surplus school land the district wanted to lease out as a source of income.

Judge Bruce A. Thompson denied the district’s request to reconsider his Sept. 1 ruling in light of new evidence in a dispute over use of an old high school. Thompson ruled that the city and the school district must resume negotiations over sale of about eight acres of ballparks at the former Memorial High School.

The city wants to turn the land into a public park and claims it is entitled under state law to obtain the property at a discount price because it is for recreational use. The district contends that the law provides exemptions for rapidly growing school districts that need to sell surplus land to raise funds for new schools.

Supt. Thomas Duffy and an attorney for the district, Amy L. Weinsheink, said an appeal is under consideration. The case is the first of its kind and could set a precedent because it centers on a school district’s ability to raise funds for new schools, state and school district officials have said.

Duffy said the district will obtain an independent appraisal of the land, as required by Thompson, so it can negotiate with the city.

Mayor Eloise Brown said she was “delighted, just delighted” with the decision Tuesday. She said improvements would begin as soon as the land is acquired. The city already has hired a landscape architect.

The city sued the school district in August after a year of failed negotiations. According to district officials, the city rejected three proposals for turning the old school into both a city park and a money-making residential development for the district.

At issue in the dispute are the district’s former high school--replaced last year by a new, larger facility--and a complicated, rarely disputed provision of the state Education Code called the Naylor Act. The law was intended to preserve recreational space when school properties are declared surplus.

The Naylor Act entitles cities and other public entities to buy as much as 30% of surplus school land for as little as 25% of market value. The city of Moorpark claims that the rule applies to the high school ball fields, which the city offered to buy from the school district for $319,000.

The fields are considered the most valuable portion of the 26-acre school site at 280 Casey Road because they are flat and more easily developed. The remainder of the property, which includes an auditorium, a gymnasium and classrooms, is hilly.

The school district has argued that it is exempt from the Naylor Act because it is growing and needs new schools. The district claims that another law requires it to sell unused properties at full market value to meet the cost of replacing them.

New evidence submitted to Thompson by the district includes a memo from City Manager Steve Kueny to the council in which he acknowledges that the district is entitled to an exemption.

“Land acquired under the Naylor provisions may be reacquired by the district at any time,” the July 15, 1988, memo says. “Even if the city responds with its intention to acquire a portion of the surplus site . . . the district is not obligated to proceed.”

The memo goes on to say that Naylor “allows for an exemption of one or more school sites,” and that alternative agreements for using the property are permitted under state law.

But Weinsheink and Kueny said Thompson decided that the district obtained the internal memo too late to be used as evidence.