Developers filed a lawsuit against the California Coastal Commission on Friday, seeking more than $490 million in damages for failing to approve a project that would have turned a 401-acre oilfield between Costa Mesa and Newport Beach into a housing and retail development.
Newport Banning Ranch is appealing the Coastal Commission’s Sept. 7 decision to reject a plan that would have cleaned up the land and built a park, 895-single family homes, a 75-room resort, a hostel and commercial space.
The commission instead had recommended a scaled-down version of the plan, saying the developers could build about half as many homes on bluffs farther from the ocean, while leaving more room for burrowing owls and other rare species that live on the parcel.
In the lawsuit, builders said the counter-proposal was not economically feasible and effectively “rejected any development whatsoever.”
A commission representative said the agency has not been served and was not immediately able to comment.
While Banning Ranch has sparked debate for decades, much focus on this proposed development has centered on the burrowing owl, which has been designated a “species of special concern.”
“There were an extraordinary and unprecedented amount of procedural errors, misinformation and errors in fact that did not provide the opportunity for a balanced decision,” said Michael Mohler, Newport Banning Ranch’s senior project manager, in a prepared statement.
Newport Banning Ranch alleged the state agency acted out of its jurisdiction and took property without proper compensation. It is seeking for the court to maintain jurisdiction over the matter and grant a new hearing considering the development.
Contact the writer: lawilliams@scng.com
