O.C. Judge Won’t Block Water Park’s Demolition

An Orange County Superior Court judge Thursday refused to block the demolition of the Wild Rivers water park, fueling a high-stakes battle that could put the attraction and neighboring Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre in the path of the wrecking ball.

Judge Michael Brenner’s refusal to grant an injunction sparing the park clears the way for Wild Rivers’ landlord, Los Angeles businessman Harry Shuster, to obtain demolition permits to bring down the $8-million water park as part of an ongoing feud with Irvine Co.

Although Shuster has in the past stressed that he’s more interested in a financial settlement from Irvine Co. than in acting on his threats, his attorney said Thursday that demolition is now a possibility.

“We want to negotiate a settlement. We always have,” said Wayne Call, Shuster’s attorney. “But if Harry Shuster is given no other alternative, I believe that when the moment of truth comes that he will” demolish the water park and amphitheater.

Call said Shuster’s company United Leisure Corp. will move quickly to obtain permits needed to dismantle the water park. United Leisure fought off a similar injunction request by the owners of the Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre in December, and has already secured permits to demolish a substantial portion of the 15,000-seat outdoor concert venue.

The water park and adjacent amphitheater are tenants on a 300-acre parcel of land near where Interstates 5 and 405 meet in southern Orange County that Shuster controls through a 29-year master lease with Irvine Co.

Utilizing an unusual provision in that agreement, Shuster has threatened to raze both facilities when his master lease expires Feb. 28 unless Irvine Co. pays him to go away quietly and leave those two profitable tenants on the property.

Attorneys for the water park and $10-million amphitheater have decried Shuster’s steely negotiating tactic as a “shakedown” and “extortion.”

Portraying their clients as pawns in a dispute beyond their control, they have attempted to convince the court that Shuster has no right to tear down projects that he didn’t invest a penny to develop.

Brenner said Thursday that the master lease clearly states that Shuster is entitled to remove all improvements to the property when the lease expires at the end of the month. Brenner said the owners of the water park and amphitheater were well aware of the clause and that Shuster shouldn’t be restrained from using it as a bargaining chip even if it puts two viable businesses in harm’s way.

“I don’t think there are any victims or villains here,” Brenner said. “ . . . Everybody knew exactly what they were getting into.”

Shuster’s attorneys sent a letter to Irvine Co.’s legal counsel last month offering to work out a deal with the help of a mediator.

Irvine Co. executives said Thursday that they might be willing to sit down and discuss a number of unresolved issues, but they flatly rejected the notion of paying Shuster to call off his bulldozers.

Last year the Orange County Superior Court ruled that there is nothing in the lease agreement that requires Irvine Co. to compensate Shuster for improvements left on the property after the lease expires. And there is nothing in the ruling that would prevent Irvine Co. from offering Shuster a buyout. But Irvine Co. spokesman Larry Thomas says that’s out of the question.

“The bottom line is that they are trying to seek additional compensation to which they are not entitled as a matter of contract law or as a matter of fairness,” Thomas said.

Owners of Wild Rivers water park vowed Thursday to appeal Thursday’s ruling and said they will continue with plans for a half-million-dollar expansion of the facility for the 1997 season.

“We’re confident that reason will carry the day during the appeals process,” said Wild Rivers General Manager Greg Briggs. “We plan on being around in 1997 and beyond.”

Bad blood has existed between Shuster and Irvine Co. for most of their 29-year relationship, and the Orange County legal establishment has done a brisk trade through the years handling a slew of suits and counter-suits between them.

Shuster, founder of the now-defunct Lion Country Safari animal park formerly located on the site, has attempted for years to turn a profit on his leasehold after the animal park went belly up in 1984.

After repeated rejection by Irvine Co. of those plans, Shuster’s company filed a suit alleging that its landlord was interfering with and harming its business.

In 1993, a jury agreed, awarding United Leisure $42 million in damages, but the next year a judge ordered a new trial. United Leisure appealed the order, and a decision is still pending.