SANTA MONICA MOUNTAINS : Way Cleared to Condemn Soka University Property
Despite heavy opposition, the Ventura County Board of Supervisors cleared the way this week for state park officials to condemn 244 acres owned by Soka University in the Santa Monica Mountains near Calabasas.
The board’s unanimous action authorized the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority to condemn the school’s campus for the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, a state agency that buys land for state and federal parks.
The action came during a packed hearing attended by at least 300 people Tuesday night.
The conservancy has tried for more than six years to buy the school’s main campus at Las Virgenes Road and Mulholland Highway for a Santa Monica Mountains park headquarters. The Tokyo-based university recently applied for a permit to expand from a language program for about 175 students into a high school and four-year liberal arts college for 3,400 students.
The authority sought approval from supervisors to condemn the Los Angeles County property because the conservancy is part of a joint-powers agency that includes Ventura County park districts.
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