RIVERSIDE -- Two days after voters nixed Mt. San Jacinto College's proposed $720 million construction bond measure, a judge Thursday dealt another blow to the district's expansion plans.

Superior Court Judge Gloria Connor Trask ruled that a county agency cannot sell 80 acres of open space in Wildomar to the college for a new satellite campus without majority support from local voters or state legislative approval.

The decision supports the contention of a lawsuit filed in August 2004 by Wildomar resident Gerard Ste. Marie, a neighbor to the proposed campus site, that the county Regional Parks and Open Space District needs voter or legislative approval before it can sell the land.

"I expected that the court would follow the law, so it wasn't a surprise to me," Ste. Marie said of the result. "I fully expected this result."

The sale of the property has been put on hold because of the lawsuit.

Besides getting voter or legislative approval, the other option would be a court appeal. County officials haven't determined if they will pursue an appeal, spokesman Ray Smith said.

"We'll have to assess the judge's ruling and determine what steps to take next … in terms of an appeal," he said.

College spokesman Bill Marchese said the ruling didn't doom the site as a possible college campus.

"We're not going to give up on that college site," he said.

John Dietrich, the college's attorney, did not return phone calls seeking comment.

David Stahovich, Supervisor Bob Buster's chief of staff, said he also doubted that the college's plans had been shot down by Thursday's ruling.

"I think it's premature to say that," Stahovich said.

Since agreeing to a $4.8 million deal with the county to buy the land in 2003, the college and its consultants have been designing a Wildomar campus. Officials recently announced that they had redone their initial designs to include a greater recreational component. But Ste. Marie still proceeded with his lawsuit to stop the sale from the county Parks and Open Space District to the college, which has campuses in Menifee and San Jacinto.

"The law requires clear-cut protocol, and that hasn't been done," he said.

Ste. Marie, 44, contended that putting a college on the property, which is north of Clinton Keith Road and east of Salida del Sol, would create a zoning conflict because the land is zoned for open space and recreational use.

The proposed site, which would have classroom buildings and student centers to house 15,000 students and about 400 full-time employees, is one of the few open spaces in Wildomar. Until earlier this spring, Wildomar Little Leaguers had to play their ballgames in Lake Elsinore.

Ste. Marie said he couldn't predict whether residents, in a vote, would support the sale of the land from the parks district to the college.

"It's quite divisive," he said.

Thursday's ruling came after voters across the expansive district -- which spans Temecula to Banning -- rejected the proposed $720 million bond to expand the existing two campuses and build two others, including the one in Wildomar.

Wildomar resident Steve Beutz, who recently led a campaign against the college's failed bond, doesn't want the campus on the site. He lives two blocks away.

"It's great news," Beutz said of the judge's ruling. "Now, they're not going to put the college on the property. We're not going to worry about 15,000 people on that campus."

He added, "I'm ecstatic about it. That's our park."

While the proposed bond would have helped fund the construction of the Wildomar campus, college President Mark Zacovic has said the project didn't hinge on the measure, but instead would have hastened it.

Contact staff writer Brian Eckhouse at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2626, or beckhouse@californian.com.