San Fernando Valley : Officials Weigh Plan to Settle Soka Case

Under increasing pressure to resolve its costly condemnation lawsuit against Soka University, a state park agency is considering a proposal to settle the case and abandon its long-term goal of using the site as a showcase park in the Santa Monica Mountains, sources said Thursday.

The board of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy on Monday directed its negotiating team to present the settlement offer to Soka administrators, who for the past four years have fought off the agency’s efforts to seize the campus for public use.

But even as the talks appeared to be heading into their final phase, key political supporters of the deal withdrew their endorsements and sent the negotiations into a tailspin.

Under the terms of the settlement proposal, Soka would be allowed, among other things, to expand its 300-student Japanese language school on the historic estate built by razor magnate King Gillette into a liberal arts college of 650 students--far less than the 2,500 the university originally proposed.

By halting the condemnation action, the conservancy would be able to use much of the estimated $20 million it has earmarked for the Soka acquisition for other purchases.