The price of open space

It brings pride to know that Soka University in Calabasas might soon be purchased by government agencies and preserved as permanent open space. The 588-acre site lies in the pristine Las Virgenes Valley just a stone’s throw away from Malibu Creek and is cradled by the majestic Santa Monica Mountains as far as the eye can see.

To think that the campus once talked about doubling the size of its holdings and adding more congestion to the fragile Malibu Canyon ecosystem seems unimaginable today.

Whether or not the full $35 million price tag for the purchase should be paid by the public is another question.

"It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that coming up with $35 million in spare cash in the current state and federal fiscal climate is nearly impossible," the Las Virgenes Homeowners Federation said in its recent newsletter. Then again, saving Ahmanson Ranch seemed "pretty hopeless" at one time too, the article went on to say.

An option to buy the property expires on April 15, but why all the sudden urgency?

In 2001, the State Court of Appeals and later the State Supreme Court ruled against the development agreement between Soka and Los Angeles County in which the new construction was first approved. In 2003, another court closed the book on Soka for good when it overturned a development permit given to the university by the California Coastal Commission.

To this day, Soka remains a quiet, well-kept entity with no threat of expansion.

Despite their victory, opponents of the Japanese Buddhist university pressed their attack. The environmental groups wanted not only to prevent new construction, but to force the existing enterprise to vacate.

At whose cost, however?

The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, the State Parks Department and the National Park Service have committed almost $20 million to buy the property. We wish we could say it was all private donation, but it’s not. Even Agoura Hills is being asked to contribute $250,000 in public revenue at a time when the city needs every last penny to pay for the costly Kanan Road interchange improvement. And don’t tell the California teachers that there’s money in the state and county budgets for open space, but not for textbooks.

We like what the Las Virgenes homeowners and other community groups are doing: soliciting private, tax-deductible donations. It may not be $35 million, but at least it takes some of the pressure away from those scarce tax dollars.

Visit www.lvhf.org for more information.

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