Court Ruling Boosts Irvine Co.’s Case in Battle With Shuster

The Irvine Co. won a major victory over its combative tenant on Friday, as a judge granted the Orange County land giant possession of 300 acres of disputed property near the El Toro Y.

The ruling by Orange County Superior Court Judge Byron McMillan amounts to an eviction for Los Angeles businessman Harry Shuster, who had refused to vacate the property after his lease expired Feb. 28. He has been battling for a 26-year lease extension.

But Orange County’s most vitriolic tenant-landlord dispute is far from over.

Shuster’s attorneys say they will appeal Friday’s ruling. And if Shuster is unsuccessful in his bid to stay on the property, he has vowed to revert to his original plan to demolish the buildings of his subtenants--the Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre and Wild Rivers water park--rather than leave those two profitable entities on the property.

“We still claim the right to remove those improvements,” Shuster attorney Wayne Call said. “‘We hope that day never comes, but we’ll do it if given no other choice.”

The Irvine Co.’s eviction suit against Shuster had been heading for a jury trial. But McMillan’s rulings on some pretrial motions severely limited the evidence that Shuster’s legal team would be able to present to the jury.

That ruling took away the heart of Shuster’s argument, namely that an Irvine Co. negotiator allegedly made an oral promise to extend the lease beyond Feb. 28, 1997, if the property continued to be used for recreational purposes. The judge’s decision effectively guaranteed victory for the Irvine Co. Thus both sides agreed to dispense with the trial.

“There was nothing left to say,” Irvine Co. attorney Linda Schilling said. “The court’s decision validates our position that . . . Harry Shuster had no right to stay on the property beyond the written lease term.”

Given the backlog of cases already clogging the courts, attorneys say Shuster’s appeal could take as long as three years to wend its way through the system.

Call said he will ask the court next week to allow Shuster to remain in control of the property pending the appeal, a move that will no doubt be hotly challenged by the Irvine Co.