High court nixes Soka University expansion
By John Loesing
Acorn Staff Writer

The California Supreme Court has ruled on the side of environmentalists in the 10-year-old battle over Soka University expansion.

As a result of last month’s decision by the high court, Soka announced it would put its controversial growth project on hold indefinitely.

Last July, the Second Court of Appeals reversed a trial court decision and issued a ruling that struck down the 1997 expansion agreement between Soka and Los Angeles County. In its Oct. 24 decision, the state Supreme Court denied Soka’s request to review that appellate ruling.

The school, which owns 580 acres in the Santa Monica Mountains just south of Calabasas on Las Virgenes Road, wanted to double the size of its 12-acre campus and increase the student population to 800.

The appellate court found Soka’s environmental impact report to be inadequate, a decision that was upheld by the high court.

A second lawsuit brought by the Monte Nido Homeowners’ Association, Sierra Club and Save Open Space sought to overturn the development permits given to Soka by the California Coastal Commission. That suit became moot in light of the recent Supreme Court action. The Coastal Commission’s decision relied on the county’s environmental documentation, which is now invalid.

Environmentalists had long chastised the Soka plan, which called for the construction of 15 new buildings and left the door open for possible future expansion in the scenic hills of Malibu Canyon.

The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy tried to acquire the property in the early ‘90s through eminent domain, but agreed to stop its condemnation in return for Soka’s promise to halt litigation.

In 1998, Los Angeles Superior Court ruled favorably on the environmental impact report for Soka’s expansion. In the appeals ruling, however, judges said the environmental report failed to provide adequate alternatives to the project. Among other things, judges found Soka and the county’s board of supervisors to be in violation of the California Environmental Quality Act.

Opponents argued the expansion at the Calabasas site wasn’t needed because Soka recently opened a second campus on 103 acres in Aliso Viejo, near Laguna Beach.

Primary funding for both campuses comes from the Soka Gakkai Buddhist sect of Japan.

Arnold Kawasaki, a spokesman for the Calabasas campus, said Soka would turn its attention toward improving the school’s graduate program in foreign language studies.