Judge Issues Preliminary Injunction Blocking Sale of Japanese Garden by UCLA

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On July 27, 2012, in response to a suit filed by the children of Edward and Hannah Carter, a Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge put a temporary halt to the University of California Los Angeles’ plans to sell the Hannah Carter Japanese Garden.

The preliminary injunction marks a temporary victory for the Coalition to Save the Hannah Carter Japanese Garden which has campaigned against the sale of the Kyoto-style garden.

The garden, a significant residential Japanese-style work created by garden designer Nagao Sakurai, was entrusted to the University in 1964 with the understanding that it would be maintained in “perpetuity.” In 2010, the university persuaded a judge to overturn the original "in perpetuity" terms of the bequest and this past March listed the garden and adjacent residence for sale.

The injunction states that the university must delay the sale of the property and continue to maintain the garden until the completion of the trial which is currently scheduled for May 6, 2013. UCLA has erected a fence in front of the garden which has been closed to visitors.