Backers, Critics Lay Groundwork for Continuation of Land-Use Battles : Soka University: A state parks agency is suing to condemn the Santa Monica Mountains property. The school has filed a countersuit. A decision could come in 1993.

The fate of a proposed college near Calabasas was buffeted by political crosswinds during the past year, but the question of whether the school will be allowed to expand into a large liberal arts college and high school could finally be determined sometime in 1993.

Soka University, a proposed 3,400-student school in the heart of the Santa Monica Mountains, took its first significant step forward in 1992 with the filing of a preliminary environmental impact report, which establishes the Japanese owners’ intent to build the enlarged campus.

The school presently offers language classes to fewer than 200 students.

Despite clearing this hurdle, Soka’s fortunes were driven backward at year’s end when the negotiating arm of a state parks agency voted to begin condemnation proceedings aimed at forcing the school to sell 244 acres. This acreage is the flattest and, from a development perspective, most important swath of the nearly 600 acres owned by Soka.

Soka was embroiled in several lesser political squabbles that also will linger on into 1993.

In August, Tom Hayden, then a Santa Monica assemblyman, succeeded in sponsoring legislation that bars most non-accredited schools such as Soka from using the word “university” in their titles. Soka currently is trying to obtain an exemption from that law.

In mid-September, Assemblyman Terry B. Friedman (D-Encino) asked the Fair Political Practices Commission to look into the legality of a campaign slate mailer which was paid for and coordinated by a Soka lobbyist and sent to households in the spring Calabasas election. That request is still pending.

The year ahead promises to be filled with ever-escalating accusations and negotiations, lawsuits and countersuits on these and other issues.

“Next year is the crucial year,” said Jeff Ourvan, the school’s spokesman.

Or, as one of Soka’s key opponents, the Las Virgenes Homeowners Federation, explained in its recent newsletter: “The battle of Soka has begun.”

Soka University, an offshoot of a controversial Buddhist sect, bought its first piece of land near Mulholland Highway and Las Virgenes Road in 1986, and has steadily expanded its holdings since then.

State and national parks agencies have long considered the 244-acre core property the ideal location for a headquarters of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy--a state agency that buys land for the state and federal governments--was outbid by Soka in 1986 but has never given up its desire to own the land.

After Proposition A, the $540-million parks assessment, passed in November, the conservancy decided it was wealthy enough to make an offer on some of the Soka land. At the end of October, the conservancy offered Soka $19.74 million, which the school subsequently rejected, saying the land is not for sale.

The school paid nearly $18 million for that portion of its land, but maintains it has spent at least $12 million more renovating the buildings and improving the landscaping.

Following the school’s rejection, the conservancy--through a joint-powers agency with two Ventura park districts known as the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority--sought permission from Ventura County supervisors to condemn the property. The supervisors voted unanimously to allow the action on Nov. 17 and, late on the evening of Dec. 22, the conservation authority voted to follow through by filing a condemnation suit in Los Angeles County courts.

However, school officials filed a lawsuit in Ventura County Superior Court on Dec. 16, challenging the parks agency’s legal right to condemn the property. A judge agreed to block the conservation authority from beginning eminent domain proceedings until after a Dec. 29 hearing on that issue. However, the judge declined to honor Soka’s request that the authority be barred from voting on the matter.

Soka is seeking to invalidate the Ventura County supervisors’ action on the grounds that the conservancy illegally used the joint-powers agency, which it helped create, to try to circumvent normal state channels. Soka maintains that the conservancy should have to gain condemnation permission from the state Board of Public Works, as do most state agencies.

If Soka succeeds in overturning the condemnation authorization, that victory could quash the conservancy’s effort to buy the 244 acres because a state law that takes effect Jan. 1 could add $10 million, or more, to the land’s cost. That law, heavily lobbied for by Soka and its representatives, provides additional reimbursement for property improvements and relocation expenses when land owned by a nonprofit group is condemned.

Whether the conservancy would be willing, or able, to pay an additional $10 million is unclear. Robert McMurray, a land-use attorney hired by the conservancy, recently told the Ventura County judge that if she granted Soka’s wishes she would have “basically eliminated our opportunity to condemn the property.”

Conservancy Director Joseph T. Edmiston was more hopeful about the condemnation prospects, saying, “It all depends on what the judge says. There are some combinations of things that could slow it down. Other things could stop it cold. . . . Then we also would have to decide whether to appeal.”

Even if Soka loses its suit and the eminent domain action is filed in Los Angeles County courts before year’s end, condemnation is not assured.

Soka attorneys have indicated they intend to fight the effort at every turn, starting with some of the same arguments they have employed in the Ventura County case. This ensures that even if the condemnation suit proceeds, it will drag on for months, perhaps years. In the end the conservancy will be faced with a price set by a jury, which could be higher than the agency can afford.

Meanwhile, Soka has indicated it intends to proceed with its expansion application, still pending at the environmental review stage in Los Angeles County.

Also pending is the FPPC investigation requested by Assemblyman Friedman, and on Jan. 1 the law that would require Soka to remove “university” from its title takes effect.

Soka spokesman Ourvan maintains the FPPC investigation is unfounded, at least with respect to involvement by the university in the election. He says Soka lobbyist Mike Lewis was acting on his own in sending out the Calabasas slate mailer.

The school sent its own letter to the FPPC welcoming the investigation, saying that it shares Friedman’s concern about foul play in local elections.

The school also considers the forced name change unfair and is looking for ways around the Hayden legislation, which is likely to spark another protracted fight or at least an intense lobbying effort. Ourvan said Soka has applied for state certification as a Japanese language center, which it hopes would allow it to continue to use the title that adorns not only T-shirts and books but also campus buildings: Soka University Los Angeles, or SULA.

Marc Litchman, a consultant working for the conservancy, said that like all the other political battles surrounding Soka, the battle over the name will drag on and on: “Anybody who thinks we’re going to be able to pull the ‘U’ off the front of the building on Jan. 2 is mistaken.”