TOPANGA CANYON : Escrow Closes on Controversial Land

Escrow closed Friday on the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy’s purchase of 662 acres at the top of Topanga Canyon, bringing to a quiet close one of the most bitter land-use disputes in Los Angeles County history.

Land once proposed as the site of a links-style golf course and 97 luxury home sites passed into public hands after the conservancy wired $14.1 million in cash to the account of the Canyon Oaks Estates Limited Partnership.

“It’s done,” said conservancy staff counsel Liz Cheadle. “We own it, the people of California own it.”

The transfer marks the end of a nasty fight that began more than 15 years ago over how the land in the Summit Valley should be used. Many residents of Topanga Canyon wanted the property to remain undeveloped.

But after several incarnations, a development proposal was on the verge of approval early last month when the conservancy stepped in and announced it wanted to buy the land.

Under the terms of the deal, the conservancy agreed to pay $19.9 million in two installments for the property which straddles Topanga Canyon Boulevard. Friday’s installment of $14.1 million bought 432 acres. The second, due in August, 1995, will pay for the remaining 230 acres.

Money for the initial purchase came from voter-approved Proposition A funds earmarked for land acquisition in the Santa Monica Mountains. To pay for the rest, conservancy officials are depending on passage of a statewide ballot initiative, Proposition 170, this June or on money owed them by the National Park Service.

Some neighbors of the property have threatened to sue to block the deal, claiming the conservancy has not followed proper procedure as outlined by the California Environmental Quality Act.

However, lawyers for both the conservancy and Los Angeles County--which signed off on the deal--said that because the property is going to be developed as a natural park, it does not fall under the constraints of the act.