Environmentalists beat Soka University—again

By John Loesing Acorn Staff Writer

MICHAEL COONS/The Acorn COURTROOM LOSS--Any hope to expand the Soka University of America campus in Calabasas has been shot down in a courtroom. Now opponents want to acquire the site of the campus.

Opponents of Soka University are celebrating in the wake of a recent court ruling that finally closes the book on any plans for campus expansion, but despite their victory, Soka opponents are still pressing the attack.

On Feb. 27, the Second Court of Appeal overturned a California Coastal Commission permit that would have allowed the Mulholland Highway school near Calabasas to more than double in size to 440,000 square feet and accommodate increased enrollment from 100 students to 650.

The ruling reinforces a 2001 appeals court decision that struck down a development agreement between Soka University and Los Angeles County in which the new construction was first approved.

The end of the decade-long legal struggle to increase the size of the rural Santa Monica Mountains campus is prompting some groups to call for a closing of the school altogether.

The request by the Sierra Club, Save Open Space and the Monte Nido Valley Community Association represents a first-time attempt by local environmental groups not only to prevent new construction, but also force an existing enterprise to vacate.

"Now is the time for public officials and Soka Gakkai to seize the opportunity and agree on a mutually beneficial transaction that once-and-forever leaves this exceptional property as a legacy for the people of the state of California," said Save Open Space boardmember Mary Wiesbrock in a statement.

In its ruling against the coastal permit, the appeals court said the commission failed to perform an independent evaluation of other, environmentally superior alternatives. The court also faulted the commission for relying on the county’s 1997 environmental impact report, which a later judge found to be inadequate.

"The problem with the [Los Angeles] County and Soka’s position is that, in fact, [Coastal] Commission, regardless of its independent documentation, never considered any alternatives other than those set out in the county’s FEIR [Final Environmental Impact Report]," said the court. "Those alternatives were legally inadequate."

Opponents argued that the Calabasas expansion wasn’t needed because of the 2001 opening of a second campus on 103 acres in Aliso Viejo, near Laguna Beach. The court suggested the Coastal Commission should have studied the possibility of placing the expansion at the school’s new campus in Orange County instead of in the environmentally sensitive Santa Monica Mountains.

The fledgling Orange County campus reportedly has encountered student morale and budgetary problems. Primary funding for both campuses comes from the Soka Gakkai Buddhist sect of Japan.

"What makes environmental sense for the public makes education and economic sense for Soka," said Frank Angel, an attorney for Sierra Club.

Angel expressed hope that "something good for all parties, including Soka, may come out of Soka’s difficulties, if Soka seizes the opportunity of securing for itself a one-time, multimillion dollar cash infusion—and tremendous public good will—by selling its Santa Monica Mountains land holdings to the state and consolidating all its California-based educational operations in Aliso Viejo, which has added benefits in terms of economies of scale and cutting the costs of running two under-used campuses."

A Soka spokesman said the current economy has created some concerns, but that the school has no plans to consolidate campuses.

"We haven’t come to that point yet," said Arnold Kawasaki, a Soka spokesman. "We’re focusing on perfecting our educational program … We always think about what’s best for the student and the best educational environment we can create."

Soka, which opened locally in 1987, owns 588 acres near the intersection of Mulholland Highway and Las Virgenes Road. The 119,500 square-foot campus occupies 12 of those acres and the rest is mostly open space.

The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy tried to acquire the property in the early 1990s through eminent domain, but agreed to stop its condemnation effort in return for Soka’s promise not to continue with countersuits.

In 1998, Los Angeles Superior Court ruled favorably on the environmental impact report for Soka’s expansion, but a subsequent ruling overturned the decision.