Soka Loses a Round in Legal Fight for Its Land : Calabasas: Appeals judge rules university cannot raise a separate challenge, but must address formal eminent domain proceedings.

A state appeals court on Tuesday cleared the way for the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy to proceed with its legal fight to seize Soka University’s scenic Calabasas campus for use as parkland.

Overturning a Ventura County judge’s decision, the 2nd District Court of Appeal ruled that Soka’s objections to the conservancy’s legal attack should be raised in formal condemnation proceedings--not in separate court challenges.

Soka lawyers had sought to avoid condemnation proceedings altogether by arguing that the conservancy did not have proper authority to start those proceedings--known formally as eminent domain--in the first place. A Ventura County Superior Court judge agreed with the school in late 1992, but her decision was reversed by justices Tuesday.

“It would be a waste of judicial and other public resources if a property owner could challenge each step of the taking process by writ brought separate and apart from the eminent domain action,” Associate Justice Arthur Gilbert wrote in the court’s unanimous decision, filed Tuesday.

Conservancy staff counsel Liz Cheadle called the ruling a “major victory. We’re extremely happy to have a unanimous court decide, as we have said all along, that the case should be down in Los Angeles County.”

She added later: “I think Soka has to view this as a major body blow.”

But Soka spokesman Jeff Ourvan characterized the decision as “not unexpected.”

“The conservancy won on a legal technicality this time,” he said. “It’s far from a winning run. It’s more like they squeezed out a single in the bottom of the ninth.”

Ourvan said Soka administrators and lawyers are discussing whether to appeal the decision to the California Supreme Court or to argue their case in condemnation proceedings, which could begin later this year in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

The case stems from a long and tortuous fight between the school and some of its neighbors. Soka wants to expand its 580-acre campus at the corner of Mulholland Highway and Las Virgenes Road into a liberal arts college, but state and federal parks officials want a large chunk of the land to be used as a visitors center for the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.

Soka administrators have offered to share the site with parks officials but have rejected offers to sell the property outright. So, late in 1992, the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority--an arm of the conservancy--launched condemnation proceedings to seize 245 acres through eminent domain.

The way that action began formed the basis for Soka’s Ventura County suit.

Because the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority has a joint powers agreement with park agencies in Ventura County, conservancy officials sought approval to launch condemnation proceedings from the Ventura County Board of Supervisors--even though Soka’s property is entirely within Los Angeles County.

Soka lawyers argued that Ventura County officials had overstepped their bounds and, on those grounds, sought to have the approval overturned. A Ventura County judge agreed and the conservancy appealed.

Although Tuesday’s ruling overturns the Ventura County judge’s decision, it does not address the question of whether the conservancy acted properly. Instead, it simply tells Soka lawyers that the proper forum for their objections is condemnation proceedings in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

“It’s as well and good as we could expect,” said Joseph T. Edmiston, executive director of the conservancy. “We argued the case on procedural grounds, so in terms of this lawsuit it was a complete victory.”

During condemnation proceedings, a judge will decide whether the conservancy has the right to take Soka’s land against the school’s will. If the judge decides in favor of the conservancy, a jury will determine how much Soka should be paid for the property.

The process can take several years.