Irvine Meadows Maneuver Quashed

An Orange County Superior Court judge Monday quashed an attempt to overturn an injunction protecting the Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre from demolition.

Attorneys for a business associate of Harry Shuster, the Los Angeles businessman who holds permits to demolish the 15,000-seat amphitheater, were attempting to get the lawsuit transferred out of the courtroom of the Orange County Superior Court judge who issued the injunction last month.

But Presiding Judge Theodore E. Millard denied the legal maneuver by Clarinda Investments Inc. and refused to reassign the case.

The upshot of Monday’s proceedings: The injunction still stands, and all sides in the dispute are left to contemplate their next move in what has become a complicated legal chess match.

“We’re obviously very pleased with the ruling,” Irvine Meadows attorney Michael Hennigan said. “They were trying to get a more sympathetic judge in order to get a different result.”

Hennigan contends that Shuster brought Clarinda Investments into the lawsuit last month as a “friendly” cross-defendant in an attempt to get the case moved out of the court of Judge C. Robert Jameson, who issued the injunction.

All new defendants in a civil lawsuit have the right to challenge the presiding judge and seek to get their case transferred. But Hennigan contends the maneuver wasn’t legitimate because Shuster and a principle in Clarinda have had extensive business dealings in the past.

Jonathan Cole, attorney for Clarinda Investments, says Clarinda will challenge Monday’s ruling.

“We lost this battle, but we’re going to appeal,” said Cole, who denies his client is aligned with Shuster.

The amphitheater and neighboring Wild Rivers water park are subtenants on a 300-acre parcel of land that Shuster controlled through a master lease from the Irvine Co. The lease expired Feb. 28, and Shuster had threatened to demolish the structures rather than turn over two profitable tenants to the Irvine Co. without receiving compensation.

Shuster has since taken a different legal tack and now is seeking to extend his lease with the Irvine Co. another 26 years. But the jockeying over his right to demolish the structures continues.