Fryman Canyon Owner Agrees in Principle to Sale : Parkland: Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy will buy 63 acres for an estimated $10 million. City Council and other agencies still need to approve deal.

The owner of the rustic, 63-acre Fryman Canyon site has agreed “in principle” to sell the land to the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy for an estimated $10 million, an amount that would make it the costliest parkland purchase in the state agency’s history.

Deputy Mayor Mark Fabiani, attorney Benjamin M. Reznik and a representative of the conservancy confirmed Thursday that developer Fred Sahadi is ready to sell the canyon under terms substantially like those approved Monday by the agency’s board of directors.

The plan still must be approved by the City Council and several other agencies, but the agreement in principle was seen by all sides as the most significant development to date in the nine-month-long negotiations over the land, located just north of Mulholland Drive in Studio City. Sahadi had previously planned to put 26 luxury homes on the site.

Fabiani called Sahadi’s decision a “watershed event” in the protracted campaign to make Fryman Canyon a park and keep it from being developed.

Fabiani said Fryman Canyon’s purchase would be an “important step” in the continuing development of a network of urban parks in Los Angeles. “Fryman Canyon is a secluded wilderness area that is only a matter of minutes from the central city,” he said. “That’s what makes this canyon such a unique space.”

Reznik, who represents Sahadi, said “there’s agreement in principle to a sale, and all that’s lacking are a few details. This is a complicated closing, a complicated deal.”

Late Wednesday evening was the first time the city or the conservancy got a response from Sahadi to the acquisition proposal adopted Monday night.

That proposal calls for a cash payment of $8.8 million--mostly state money--and the transfer of title to four parcels of real estate to Sahadi.

The land to be transferred--about 10 acres owned by the city’s Department of Water and Power--has an estimated value of $1.2 million.

Transfer of the parcels requires approval of the DWP commission, chaired by former Deputy Mayor Mike Gage.

A sale price of $10 million would bring the per acre cost of Fryman to about $160,000, making it the most expensive parkland ever purchased by the conservancy. The only land ever purchased by the conservancy for a higher price was already developed with a motel and was zoned for commercial use.

Despite the optimism, it remained unclear whether Sahadi’s agreement in principle meant the developer had dropped his previous opposition to the method in which he would get paid.

The conservancy wants to defer payment of $2 million of the purchase price for six months after the deal is concluded. Sahadi previously said he would take only a $1.5-million deferred payment.

City Councilman Michael Woo said the apparent agreement was “terrific news.”

“With a minimal (city) investment . . . we get one of the last pristine canyons close to the city as a park,” said Woo, who represents the area where the canyon is located.

Amid the widespread jubilation and relief, there was also caution.

“We still have work to do,” said Fabiani, who has been deeply involved in the negotiations.

“I’ve been up and down so many times on this that I feel like a Yo-Yo and I’m afraid to let go,” said Daryce Richman-Cooper, a Hollywood woman who, along with other environmentalists, has long lobbied for Fryman’s preservation and purchase as a park.

The colorful campaign to save Fryman Canyon has been a cause celebre with environmentalists, who once engaged an Indian chief to bless the site, pressed to have it declared a cultural-historic monument and used a Mercedes-Benz to block a surveying crew from entering the canyon.

The deal must win approval of the City Council and the city’s Water and Power Commission and get a final sign-off from the conservancy and Sahadi. The conservancy directors have given the other parties until Dec. 14 to endorse the proposal. The board plans to take a final vote Dec. 17.

Joseph T. Edmiston, conservancy executive director, could not be reached for comment, but press secretary Julie Zeidner said the agency was “delighted the developer has accepted at least in concept the conservancy’s proposal.”