JUDGE RULES ON URBAN GARDEN SALE TO DEVELOPER IS UPHELD.

Byline: CONNIE LLANOS Special to the Daily News

Another chapter in the South Central Farm saga came to an end Wednesday when a judge upheld the sale of the 14-acre parcel, but farmers and their supporters pledged to redouble efforts to restore the urban garden, beginning with an appeal.

The courtroom teemed with supporters of the farm, who sported green ribbons and pins that read ``Children can't eat concrete,'' while the ruling was read.

In the 19-page ruling, Superior Court Judge Helen Bendix rejected the suit filed by the farmers against the city and land developer Ralph Horowitz.

The ruling came just weeks after celebrities, community advocates and tree-climbing activists failed to stop the bulldozing of what was the largest urban garden in the nation.

The lawsuit contended that the $4.8 million price paid by Horowitz to the city for the land was substantially below market value and that it would create a waste of potential benefit to the community. Had the farmers won, the lawsuit would have forced the city to give Horowitz back his money and take over the land.

Bendix rejected the suit, questioning land-value estimates provided by the farm's attorneys that ranged from $8 million to $13 million. Bendix also said the land sale had the potential to create more than 200 jobs, but she didn't specify how or where these jobs would come from. The sale also included an agreement to donate a portion of the land for a public park.

Farmers lawyer Dan Stormer said he would take the appeals process as far as he could to restore the community farm, which has been bulldozed.

``We're looking at what is legally right and what is morally right,'' Stormer said. ``These were 350 families who for 14 years fed themselves at no cost to the taxpayers.''

Horowitz and the deputy city attorney representing the city could not be reached to comment on the ruling.

Farmers spokeswoman Rufina Juarez said the farm's advocates and supporters are intent on doing whatever it takes to restore the farm, for which farmers paid no rent. ``We plan to move forward with a more aggressive outreach,'' Juarez said. ``This was a 14-acre oasis where kids could run free without being afraid of getting shot.''

Sun Valley resident and mother of three Rufina Medina remembers what a breath of fresh air the farm was when she discovered it nearly eight years ago.

``There was more than 500 fully grown trees -- just imagine how much clean air they provided,'' Medina said. She remembered how devastating it was to watch the garden be ripped out.

``It was like a man-made hurricane,'' Medina said. ``It was one more example of man disrespecting Mother Nature.''

But, like most of the ex-farmers, Medina hopes the farm will return.

``For some of us, this struggle has made us stronger,'' Medina said. ``We lost the battle but we did not lose the war.''

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Photo:

Joyce Gerber, left, a supporter of the South Central farmers, comforts gardener Rufina Martinez shortly after a judge rejected claims in a lawsuit by former urban gardeners seeking control of an inner-city plot from a developer Wednesday in Los Angeles.

Ric Francis/Associated Press