Mountains Agency Wins Right to Seize Soka University Land : Environment: College vows to appeal judge’s ruling. Price the conservancy must pay for the Calabasas property will be determined by a jury.

In a victory for the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, a judge this week ruled that the agency may condemn Soka University’s scenic Calabasas campus for public parkland.

Judge Barnet Cooperman’s ruling Thursday changes the focus in the fight for the campus, from whether the conservancy may condemn to how much it must pay--the price ultimately to be determined by a jury.

Parks officials have long coveted the land as a showpiece acquisition that would feature a visitors center for the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.

Even as conservancy lawyers savored the victory outside the courtroom, Soka spokesman Jeff Ourvan vowed that the university would appeal the ruling and characterized the conservancy as a victim of its own success.

“This ruling ironically kills the conservancy’s effectiveness,” he said, explaining that it “forces them to begin selling off existing parkland to start saving for the Soka acquisition.”

Indeed, the toughest part of the conservancy’s fight may lie ahead. Although conservancy officials have set aside more than $19 million to buy out Soka, the jury may award the school many millions more, perhaps pricing the land beyond the agency’s reach.

On Monday, the conservancy board will meet to discuss which of its park holdings could be sold to raise cash. Already, Executive Director Joseph T. Edmiston has told the board that all new acquisitions--such as the Canyon Oaks project in Topanga Canyon--must be put on hold.

The conservancy--a state agency that acquires parkland--is trying to take over 245 of Soka’s 662 acres at Las Virgenes Road and Mulholland Highway.

Soka, on the other hand, wants to expand its 200-student language school into a liberal arts college with an enrollment of 3,500 at the site, which includes the former ranch of razor magnate King Gillette. The school rejected an offer to buy the property in 1992.

Even if the conservancy can afford the ultimate price of the land, Soka lawyers have threatened to sue to force the agency to purchase the remaining 417 acres, arguing that they would then become unusable.

Last month, the conservancy and Soka had hoped to avoid the expensive legal fight that lies ahead--which will cost the public millions of dollars regardless of which side wins.

Under a tentative settlement agreement between the two, Soka would have sold to the conservancy much of the land it is seeking to condemn through eminent domain--including the historic Gillette mansion and grounds.

Soka, in turn, would have built a scaled-down campus for 2,500 students on the eastern part of the property. The deal would have taken effect only after the school’s plans were approved by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.

But faced with intense criticism from a coalition of homeowners, environmentalists and elected officials, the conservancy board rejected the settlement offer and vowed to press ahead with the case.