Judge Switches Again on Who Owns Railroad Right of Way : Law: Latest ruling is that the green belt between Valley Drive and Ardmore Avenue belongs not to Manhattan Beach, but to far-flung heirs of private owners.

In a surprising about-face that could cost the city of Manhattan Beach millions, a Superior Court judge has once again changed his mind about whether the city owns a 21-acre park on a former railroad right of way.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge William C. Beverly Jr.’s decision Monday is the second reversal he has made in the case since his original ruling in December, 1992. At that time, he ruled in favor of 88 people who say they are the heirs of the land’s rightful owners and that the city should compensate them for the property.

On Aug. 20, Beverly reversed his decision after the California Court of Appeal, acting on an order by the state Supreme Court, told him to either overturn his December ruling or justify why it should stand. Five days later, he reinstated his decision in favor of the heirs, saying he had since learned that the Supreme Court order was based on procedural questions, not the merits of his original ruling.

“The record should clearly reflect that this court has at no time come to the opinion that its original judgment in this case was wrong,” Beverly said Monday at a hearing on the case. “To the contrary, this court stands by that decision.”

“He had no intention of changing his mind on the merits,” said Joseph Dzida, an attorney for the heirs. “He stated on the record that he wanted to be absolutely clear that . . . he stood by his earlier decision and believed it to be correct.”

The city’s appeal of Beverly’s original ruling favoring the heirs is still scheduled to be heard in March in the Court of Appeal, city officials said.

City Manager Bill Smith, who had expressed relief over the judge’s first reversal, saying it was “like having a huge burden removed from our shoulders,” was sobered by the judge’s most recent ruling. According to the city, the heirs have claimed the property is worth as much as $100 million.

“It’s a real downer,” he said. “It’s been a real roller coaster.”

Jerry Fadem, the city’s lead attorney in the case, nevertheless remained optimistic about the city’s chance of winning the case on appeal.

“We’re back to where we were a week ago Monday, where the (higher) court has said, ‘Show us reasons why we shouldn’t reverse your order,’ ” Fadem said. “It’s a very good position to be in.”

The complicated lawsuit was filed in 1989 by 88 heirs to the Redondo Land Co., a development firm that granted the property to a railway company in 1888. Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway later acquired the property, which it used for railway purposes until 1982.

The land was unoccupied until 1986, when the city of Manhattan Beach bought the property for $5 million and converted it to a park. As part of the deal, Atchison, Topeka indemnified the city for the purchase price and for attorneys’ fees if the title to the land become subject to litigation.

The lawsuit, filed against both the city and Atchison, Topeka, argues that the original grant gave the railway an easement to the land, not outright ownership. It says that when the easement ceased to be used for a railroad, the land should have reverted to the heirs of the original owners.

Attorneys for the city contend that the 1888 deed was modified by an agreement in 1897 that made it clear that Redondo Land Co. had deeded ownership of the property to the railroad.

The long park, only 100 feet wide, is a green belt that contains a jogging path between Valley Drive and Ardmore Avenue. It stretches from near the north end of Manhattan Beach, west of Sepulveda Boulevard, to the Hermosa Beach boundary.

The heirs, who live as far afield as Maine and Rhode Island, had also filed suit against Hermosa Beach for a portion of the right of way that ran within that city. But Beverly dismissed Hermosa from the suit in December, saying the city had clear ownership to the property.