WOODLAND HILLS : Judge Blocks Transfer of Dirt to College

Handing development foes a temporary victory, a judge has blocked a controversial plan to haul dirt from the Warner Ridge housing site to Pierce College in Woodland Hills.

Granting a last-minute petition by a group of west San Fernando Valley residents, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert O’Brien on Monday issued a temporary restraining order halting the project.

The developer, Warner Ridge Partners, will ask O’Brien on Wednesday to lift the ban, lawyer Robert McMurry said Monday.

Delays in the transfer of 425,000 cubic yards of dirt to Pierce College could ruin his client’s deal with a tenant for the development, McMurry said. Financially struggling Pierce College has agreed to $2.1 million in cash and improvements in exchange for accepting the soil. The earth would be dumped on the college farm.

O’Brien’s order forbids the use of poison to control rodents, as well as any grading that would “disturb the wildlife habitat, in particular the foraging grounds of migratory waterfowl.”

McMurry said he will ask O’Brien to consider lifting the order if the developer agrees not to use poison to kill gophers and other rodents on the land.

“I’m stunned,” McMurry said. “Hopefully, on Wednesday, we’ll be able to modify the (order) to preclude the use of poisons and allow us to go ahead. It won’t be as effective without the poison, but that’s what we’ll do if the court requires it.”

Rosemary Woodlock, attorney for Coalition to Save Pierce College Farm, said she was “very, very pleased by the ruling.” And she said her clients will not drop their bid to block the project if the developer agrees not to use poisons.

Unless modified, the order remains in effect until Nov. 8.

Warner Ridge Partners may try to cut a quick deal to haul the first 30,000 truckloads of dirt to a landfill, rather than wait, McMurry said.

O’Brien’s order also requires the Warner Ridge opponents to put up a $175,000 bond in case they lose their lawsuit against the project.