Council Votes to Appeal Suit on Warner Ridge : Woodland Hills: The case will be sent to the state Supreme Court despite a warning by the city attorney.

An increasingly worried Los Angeles City Council voted Friday to appeal the Warner Ridge lawsuit to the California Supreme Court, despite a warning from the city attorney that the city will probably lose again.

“The city attorney told us we didn’t have much of a chance” of overturning a unanimous decision by the state Court of Appeal, said Councilman Ernani Bernardi as he emerged from a secret council session to discuss the city’s strategy on the litigation.

The account by Bernardi, who cast the only vote against carrying on the fight in the Woodland Hills land-use dispute, was confirmed by two others who attended the meeting.

Councilwoman Joy Picus--whose opposition to development of a commercial complex on Warner Ridge in her district set off the chain of events that led to the lawsuit--confirmed that the council approved an appeal to the high court. Picus had no further comment.

The would-be developers of Warner Ridge, led by partner Jack Spound, have sued the city, arguing that it was illegal for the council to zone the property for single-family homes to block their commercial development. They have charged that Picus pushed through the zoning change to appease local homeowners opposed to the project.

Two courts have ruled in the developers’ favor so far, including a unanimous decision by the state Court of Appeal on Dec. 31 and a Superior court ruling that the city’s action stripped the developers’ 21.5-acre parcel of all economic value. They have asked for $100 million in damages, an issue the courts have yet to decide.

The Court of Appeal ruling threatens to set a precedent that will inspire other developer lawsuits against the city on similar grounds.

City planners have estimated that as many as 8,000 city parcels may be zoned for less development than is allowed under their community plan designations, the legal issue the Warner Ridge partnership used against the city, to date successfully. If the appeals court ruling stands, the city may also have to embark on a potentially costly program of rezoning those parcels.

Because of the high stakes involved, the council also began considering Friday the possibility of hiring private legal counsel to boost the city’s state Supreme Court appeal, according to sources who attended the meeting. A further review of that option with City Atty. James K. Hahn will take place at another executive session next Tuesday.

“The attorneys didn’t say our chances were horrible on appeal to the Supreme Court but that they weren’t very good,” said one of these sources, who asked for anonymity. “It’s the first time they’ve expressed doubts about the city’s case. They’ve been very optimistic before.

“Now there are more council members anxious about this case,” the source added. “I think they all recognize its serious implications.”

Another source who attended the meeting said there were increasingly strong feelings expressed in favor of negotiating a compromise with the Warner Ridge developers.

The council members Friday also voted to appeal a Jan. 7 decision by Superior Court Judge Kathryn Doi Todd that the city had deprived the Warner Ridge owners of “all economically viable use” of their property.

The lawmakers were told that the city might have a better chance of overturning Todd’s ruling on appeal, the sources said.

In the Court of Appeal and Todd rulings, the developers scored victories on two separate legal points critical to the successful prosecution of their case. If these rulings survive challenge, the only question remaining is how much the city will pay in damages.

The appellate court ruling held that the city acted illegally because although the property was classified for commercial development in the local community plan, the council refused to zone it for commercial use, instead zoning it for 65 single-family homes.

The appeals court held that the city’s zoning regulations must conform to community plans, not vice-versa.

Meanwhile, Robert Gross, president of the Woodland Hills Homeowners Organization, said he was very pleased by the council’s decision to appeal.

The organization has been a vehement foe of the Warner Ridge project. The developers’ lawsuit claims Picus withdrew her support for their commercial project to keep the political support of the homeowner group as she prepared to run for reelection.

Gross said the organization’s board of directors also has voted to file a friend-of-the-court brief when the city appeals the decision by the Court of Appeals.