ANNA KING
Assistant News Editor
Students have recently been passing around a petition to ‘Save Cholada,’ the Thai restaurant popular among students. However, what they may not realize is that the story behind Cholada in danger of closing has actually been a six-year battle after the state purchased the land in 2001 to create a state park.
The owner of Cholada since 2000, Nikorn Sriwichailumpan, said the state gave permission in August 2003 to remain in their building for three more years. After that period has passed in August, he said they will renegotiate their presence in lower Topanga.
“In 2000, they wanted to buy here around this land,” Sriwichailumpan said. “Now in 2006 they don’t have a plan for anything. It takes time. I think that I will be able to stay longer.”
The predicament regarding the permanence of the Cholada restaurant is one that extends as far back as 2000 and affected more than 80 residences and businesses that share the stretch of 1,659 acre lower Topanga land parcel extends along and behind PCH and includes Something’s Fishy restaurant and Malibu Feed Bin.
The parcel of land was originally owned by the Los Angeles Athletic Club Organization Ltd., which also owns several businesses in the Los Angeles area, and was sold to the national non-profit organization American Land Conservancy (ALC) in March 2001.
The ALC was created in 1990 with the goal of protecting land for the benefit of people and wildlife.
The purchase was made possible in 2000 when the state budgeted $40 million for the purchse of lower Topanga to turn into a state park. The remaining funds came from Prop. 12 of March 2000, the $2.1 billion bond act that California voters passed to enable the State Parks Department to purchase open land.
However, the proposition did not allow the purchase of existing residences and businesses. To satisfy the requirements of the proposition, the purchase had to first be made by the ALC, which then sold the parcel to the state.
Once the state acquired the land, bought for approximately $43 million, removing the tenants and businesses to make way for the park became a long legal battle. While some residents chose to take their compensation from the state and leave, several opted to go through the court process to grant more time to remain and relocate from their homes.
“Because it was the state’s property, we couldn’t reverse the orders,” said Adam James, a lawyer who worked on the case from the Dummit, Briegleb, Boyce and Buchholz practice. “We represented the residents of lower Topanga, and the last residents were gone by the end of February 2006. Whatever businesses are still there are there on the individual deals that they have worked out with the state.”
Over the course of five years, all residences were evacuated, either by choice or by force, and several businesses have been demolished to make way for the new park developments. The businesses that have been allowed to stay, such as Wiley’s Bait Shop and Cholada Thai Beaches, are either considered historical sites or serve tourists directly.
If Cholada does indeed have to relocate after their re-negotiation in August, the loss would be felt among Pepperdine students and locals. Cholada has a petition in their restaurant to allow them to remain and has gathered more than 500 signatures of locals and tourists who frequent the restaurant.
“I feel like Cholada is one of those places that is a hole in the wall, but it is so good,” said senior Janna Lineback. “There is obviously this image of what Malibu is, and Cholada doesn’t really fit that at all.”
Sriwichailumpan said his business is welcoming support from Pepperdine students and locals to help them continue their work.
“I don’t want another job,” Sriwichailumpan said. “This is it.”
03-29-2006
