Judge Blocks L.A. Appeal on Warner Ridge

A Superior Court judge has ordered the city of Los Angeles to drop its appeal of a damaging appellate court decision in the Warner Ridge litigation, a move that has angered and confused homeowner leaders.

In a closed-door session Tuesday, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge R. William Schoettler orally issued the order, telling the city that its appeal to the California Supreme Court was fundamentally at odds with the city’s decision to settle the Warner Ridge lawsuit.

The city pursued the appeal, despite the settlement, because it was desperately trying to limit what many development experts say are the wide-ranging repercussions of the appellate court decision. City officials and land-use analysts have said the decision could open the door for other lawsuits and the increased development of thousands of properties in the city.

Schoettler could not be reached for comment about his order, which has not yet been committed to writing. The judge’s order, however, does not prevent the city from asking the courts to “de-publish” the appellate court ruling. Rulings that are not published cannot be used as a precedent in other cases.

Attorneys for the Warner Ridge development firm that filed the suit, and Carlyle Hall, a private attorney hired by the city to assess the complicated fallout from the lawsuit, confirmed that the judge had issued the order barring an appeal and that the city attorney’s office has agreed to comply.

Deputy City Atty. Wayne Mooney, who was present at the session, refused to comment.

Schoettler’s order was called a “tremendous blow” by Robert Gross, president of the Woodland Hills Homeowners Organization, which had opposed the Warner Ridge project.

The appeals court ruling held that the city of Los Angeles had acted illegally by zoning the 21.5-acre Warner Ridge property for residential use when the area’s Community Plan designated the site for commercial development. The city’s community plans and zoning must be consistent, and when they are in conflict, the plans must be the paramount guide to development, the court said.

The appellate court ruling was one of a string of legal setbacks that forced the city to settle the bitterly fought litigation last month.

The settlement permits the developer to build a 690,000-square-foot commercial project and 125 condos at the site near Pierce College.

Councilwoman Joy Picus had persuaded the council in January, 1990, to rezone the property to allow only 65 single-family houses on the site.

Although the effects of the appeals court ruling are still being studied, city planning officials have estimated there are tens of thousands of parcels throughout the city that have zoning that permits less development than the applicable community plans.

Homeowners fear the decision will permit the owners of these parcels to develop their property to the maximum levels allowed by the community plans.

Schoettler issued his order demanding that the city withdraw its appeal to the state’s high court after hearing attorneys for Warner Ridge argue that it made little sense for the city to appeal a decision that it had settled out of court, said Larry Russ, attorney for the developer.