Nudist Camp Loses Appeal, Moves Closer to Eviction

The state Supreme Court on Thursday rejected an appeal by the Elysium Fields nudist camp in Topanga Canyon, moving the 1,000-member group a step closer to eviction from its eucalyptus-screened compound.

The ruling marked the latest legal setback for the Elysium Institute, which runs the seven-acre “clothing-optional” camp near Topanga State Park.

The institute has been battling attempts by Los Angeles County to shut it down since 1971.

Stephen F. Rohde, Elysium’s attorney, said the group plans to appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court. County officials could not be reached for comment.

The camp, a fixture in laid-back Topanga Canyon since 1968, features a swimming pool, tennis courts, sauna, picnic area and other recreational facilities. Members, who pay an annual fee, also may attend lectures on the naturalness and wholesomeness of nudity and human sexuality.

Rohde said Elysium’s troubles began with a “small group of neighbors who opposed the idea that behind the eucalyptus trees, people were in the nude.”

The neighbors, he added, were motivated “by intolerance toward alternative lifestyles” and their efforts were “attempts to suppress nudity.”

The struggle over the camp began in 1971 after the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors rezoned the area and ordered Elysium to move out within five years, Rohde said.

The county said weak geological formations prevented widening the camp’s narrow entry road, which posed a fire hazard.

But other Topanga residents rallied to Elysium’s side, contending that the camp is an important part of the community and is opposed mostly by anti-nudity moralists.

In July, a state appeals court said the rezoning of Elysium was unconstitutional but nonetheless ruled against the camp, arguing that it still would have been ordered out under the county’s usual procedures for granting conditional-use permits.

The camp, which is often visited by more than 300 people during the summer months, has remained open pending the courtroom appeals.

Rohde said that if the U.S. Supreme Court rejects its appeal, Elysium will seek a new county permit, arguing that it recently reached an agreement with neighbors to widen the camp’s private access road.