Council Rejects Deal to End Warner Center Suit : Growth: It turns down an offer by the L.A. school district, which claims an expansion plan will harm two nearby campuses.

Paving the way for a trial between two municipal heavyweights this summer, the Los Angeles City Council rejected an offer Tuesday from the Los Angeles Unified School District to settle a lawsuit brought by the district to block potential expansion in Warner Center.

School officials filed suit against the city in 1993, alleging that the council did not adequately consider the effects of pollution and traffic on two neighboring schools when it approved a blueprint guiding expansion of the Warner Center development in Woodland Hills.

The two sides had put off a court date in the hopes of settling the dispute, but Peter James, an attorney representing the school district, said Tuesday that the parties are now at an impasse with the council’s rejection of the latest settlement offer.

“It appears that we’ve reached the end of the rope on settlement discussions,” James said.

The district’s settlement offer called for the city to conduct a further assessment of the environmental impact of building Warner Center according to the specific plan the council adopted in June, 1993. In particular, the study was to concentrate on the effects that expansion would have on nearby Parkman Middle School and Canoga Park High School.

Contending that increased traffic would cause noise and air pollution harmful to the students, the district asked for $5 million to purchase and maintain air-conditioning and filtration systems for the two campuses. While some of the money would come from developers, the bulk of it would come from the city.

The council rejected the proposal in a closed session Tuesday. Ken Bernstein, an aide to Councilwoman Laura Chick, who represents the area, said the city does not agree that its original environmental study was inadequate and would not accede to the $5-million mitigation plan put forward by the school district.

“Our concern would be for the terrible precedent that would set not just for Warner Center but for development throughout the city--that the school district is looking for money from the city,” Bernstein said.

He said Chick regretted “one part of the city family suing another for funds when all parts of the city are strapped” for cash.

Both sides now will prepare briefs that would lead to a trial this summer.

As it stands, the Warner Center Specific Plan allows the site to more than double in size, from 15 million to 35.7 million square feet. The center, which currently includes hotels, offices and apartment complexes, sits on 1,100 acres bounded by Topanga Canyon Boulevard, Vanowen Street, De Soto Avenue and the Ventura Freeway.