COVER STORY : The Soil of Turmoil : Land Preserve Welcomed With Wary Eye on Deal That Saved It

The field is awash with vibrant color. Bright yellow mustard flowers stand head-high, mingling with golden fiddleneck and a purple carpet of filaree. Golden stars, patches of white wild radish and foxtails peek out from the native grasses and the barley left over from the days when cattle grazed on the land.

There’s no prettier time than spring to view the plants in bloom on the Chandler Land Trust, 28 1/2 acres of open area atop the Palos Verdes Peninsula.

“On a clear day, you can see all the way to the mountains and Downtown Los Angeles,” said Mike Kilroy, vice president of the Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy, as he wandered through the dewy grass recently.

The property--26 acres in Rolling Hills Estates and 2 1/2 acres in Torrance--is one of the last pieces of natural open land in the densely populated South Bay. And most of the Chandler acreage is now controlled by the land conservancy under a complicated real estate deal settled Dec. 30.

Last month, the property was dedicated as the Linden H. Chandler Preserve in honor of the 94-year-old family patriarch who has owned the land since 1955. The family also owns Chandler’s Palos Verdes Sand and Gravel company on Palos Verdes Drive East.

Those involved with the sale--the land conservancy, the city of Rolling Hills Estates and eight members of the Chandler family--say the land overlooking the Palos Verdes Golf and Country Club will remain protected for recreational use forever.

But the deal to acquire the open area is not without controversy.

It is no secret that Kilroy is a self-employed developer involved in at least six housing projects in the Los Angeles and San Francisco areas. Critics say he has links to peninsula businessman Barry Hon, who has built residential and commercial developments for 35 years. Hon has obtained legal access to the Chandler property along Empty Saddle Road, fueling suspicions that he has an interest in developing the land.

In addition, attorney Andrew Sargent, an environmental activist, says the purchase and sales agreement among the parties does not guarantee the land will remain undeveloped.

Acquisition of the property, which is appraised at $5 million, hinged on Rolling Hills Estates obtaining $1.4 million in Proposition A funds, the Los Angeles County parks bond act. Initially, the conservancy, which put no capital into the deal, proposed that it would own all 28 1/2 acres. But the city wanted something for the purchase price and, in the end, got eight acres.

Another 6.8 acres and $100,000 was immediately donated to the conservancy by the trustees, eight members of the Chandler family. Over the next five to 20 years, they will donate the remaining land to the conservancy in exchange for $3.6 million in tax breaks. Meanwhile, the conservancy is leasing the whole property for $1 per year.

Those questioning the deal include Rolling Hills Estates Councilwoman Jacki McGuire, several residents, and Sargent, who is president of the Coastal Conservation Coalition--an umbrella group representing 11 environmental organizations, but not the local land conservancy.

They say the deal was rushed through the City Council during the busy Christmas season, without public hearings or formal council approval. And they charge that the city paid too much for the land.

“(The council) spent more time discussing what we were going to do about getting rid of our 20-year-old office furniture than we did on spending this $1.4 million,” McGuire said. When the council formally ratified the deal Jan. 11, after escrow had already closed, she alone voted against it.

Maurice Singer, who lives near the property on Dapplegray Road, was the only resident to address the council that night. He told council members they did not have authority to spend $1.4 million without a public hearing. The council said it followed both the letter and the spirit of the law, and if it had not closed the deal quickly, it would have lost a one-time opportunity to preserve the land.

McGuire and Sargent also question the tax breaks the Chandler trustees will receive. The setup is similar, they say, to Barbra Streisand’s recent donation of her Malibu estate to the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy. That deal sparked controversy when it was discovered Streisand could avoid tax on as much as $15 million in earnings, based on an appraisal that valued the 22.5-acre property several million dollars higher than an earlier $11.9-million asking price.

The Chandler trustees were on the verge of selling the peninsula land to a consortium of Chinese developers for $2.1 million when the peninsula land conservancy stepped in with the alternative proposal, McGuire said.

At a value of $5 million, the counteroffer was based on what critics consider an inflated appraisal commissioned by the sellers.

“I asked for a copy of this appraisal before the deal, and no one would give it to me. I have a lot of problems with it because the city should have purchased, with its $1.4 million, more than eight acres . . .,” McGuire said.

John Robertson Jr., one of the Chandler trustees, said two other appraisals had valued the land at $4.8 million and $6.22 million. The middle value was accepted, he said.

The appraisal by Mark S. Malan of Long Beach is based on a 28-house development, even though the land is zoned for five houses. Kilroy argues that the portion of the land in Torrance is zoned “very high density” and this helps explain the appraised value. But Torrance planner Cynthia Burgess said Kilroy does not have his facts right. The 2 1/2 acres are zoned “light agricultural,” she said.

The appraisal also compares the undeveloped land to land with $500,000 homes located on the other side of Rolling Hills Estates.

Kilroy said the Chandlers refused to complete the deal unless the appraisal came in at a “sufficiently high level.” If the value of the land had been deemed low, he said, the conservancy and the city would have lost the land to the developers.

Kilroy, 30, who has lived on the peninsula since childhood, often visits the Chandler land, the second piece acquired by the conservancy since it was founded in 1988. As he walks through the tall mustard, he identifies several plant species and stops to chew on a piece of sweet fennel. He also explains how the property could have been turned into a profitable subdivision, pointing out good locations for houses.

McGuire said Kilroy’s background as a developer, his links to Hon and his role as the main instigator in negotiations between the three parties in the recent acquisition have combined to raise suspicions among area residents.

McGuire also questions the conservancy’s plans to spend about $25,000 surveying peninsula residents about whether open space should be preserved and how it should be financed. The Palos Verdes Land Holdings Co. Inc., a subsidiary of the Hon Development Co., has donated $3,500 toward the survey.

Hon has tried for years to develop a golf course in the Portuguese Bend area of the peninsula. The area is subject to landslides, and a building moratorium has stymied his plans.

Some residents fear the conservancy might trade the Chandler Preserve for land in Portuguese Bend, about 400 acres of which is owned by Hon. The conservancy has proposed preserving this parcel and another 450 acres of undeveloped land on the southern slopes of the peninsula.

Hon was not available for comment, but Michael Mohler, vice president of Palos Verdes Land Holdings, and Kilroy deny they have any plan for a land swap involving the Chandler property. Kilroy answers critics by saying the conservancy is an apolitical organization, speaking neither for nor against development, with no formal relationship to Hon. The conservancy has no intention to develop, sell, or trade the Chandler land, he said.

However, Sargent of the Coastal Conservation Coalition said the agreement would not legally stop the conservancy from trading the land and has a loophole that would allow trustees to lift the development restrictions.

“I hope I’m wrong,” Sargent said, “but looking at the paperwork, I have some fears that the land won’t be protected. The possibility is there for it to be developed.”

Kilroy said the legal documents have a series of checks and balances, including several grant deeds and a conservation easement prohibiting development.

“I defy anyone to come up with a way to safeguard that--or any--land more,” he said.

Most city officials seem pleased with the deal. “The deal accounts for all the reasonable possibilities in the future, and all that are left for the potential development of the site makes it prohibitively expensive,” City Manager Doug Prichard said.

Mayor Barbara Rauch said preserving the land was a personal achievement for her.

“We’ve lived here for 27 years and my children ride horses,” she said. “And it’s such a beautiful area to go ride on because you really feel like you’re in the country.”

A ravine and a series of equestrian trails wind around the grassy land, eventually leading riders to wind-swept knolls.

The acreage supports skunks, raccoons, opossums, gray foxes, gophers, mice, red-tailed and red-shouldered hawks. Peacocks, who also nest there, beg for food at neighboring homes.

Local naturalist Don Gales, who has studied the peninsula since 1955, said some plant species, including the Palmer’s Goldenbush shrub, seemed to be restricted to the area.

Most open space in the South Bay has been swallowed up by development in the past 50 years, said Frank O’Brien, chairman of a citizens’ advisory board fighting to preserve and upgrade the Ken Malloy Harbor Regional Park in San Pedro.

“We have barely one-tenth the amount of recommended parkland for the present population, far less than in other American and European cities,” O’Brien said.

And growing public awareness of shrinking natural land has led to a surge of grass-roots activity throughout the United States, according to the Washington-based Land Trust Alliance.

Alliance President Jean Hocker said at least 1,000 land trusts such as the peninsula land conservancy have sprung up across the country, helping to preserve more than 3 million acres of land.

“People want to take action to protect the places where they live and work and they aren’t willing to wait for government or anyone else to do it,” Hocker said.

Many, including appraiser Malan and people who attended the recent dedication, praise the Chandlers’ generosity.

“I’ll tell you one thing. The people of Rolling Hills got a gift,” Malan said.

The family has been a significant landholder on the peninsula since 1926. In that year, Linden H. Chandler bought his first parcel from Frank Vanderlip Sr., who had been assistant secretary of the Treasury under President William McKinley. In 1955, Chandler bought the area now known as the Chandler Land Trust from South West Portland Cement.

“And to think it all started when I inherited two horses, a wagon, and a shovel . . . “ Chandler said at his birthday party this year.

Robertson, Chandler’s grandson, said as children, he and his brothers and sisters played on the land that is now the preserve.

“We are pleased to be able to contribute to the memories of future generations by preserving this piece of our past,” Robertson said at the dedication.

Still, resident Linda Miller, who rides her horse along the property’s trails, said area residents must keep a close eye on what happens to the land. “It’s going to have to be watch-dogged. We want it preserved, but we are questioning the ultimate motives. If (the conservancy is) acting out of good faith, then that’s wonderful.”

Chandler Preserve

The Linden H. Chandler Preserve on the Palos Verdes Peninsula is 28 1/2 acres of open space commonly known as the Chandler Land Trust. Visitors may walk or ride horses over the rolling grassland that is covered with wildflowers in the spring.