Suit Over RV Park Project Dismissed

A Superior Court judge Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit filed four years ago against the city of Port Hueneme and the California Coastal Commission over a proposed beachfront development.

Judge William Peck ruled the suit, filed by the Sierra Club and Surfside III Condominium Homeowners Assn., had no merit, attorneys for the city and commission said.

The development targeted by the suit is no longer under consideration. Both the City Council and commission had revoked their approvals more than six months ago for a 10-acre recreational vehicle park at Port Hueneme Beach.

“It all became moot,” said James M. Rodriquez, a deputy attorney general representing the commission. “The city wasn’t going to go ahead with that plan anymore so there was no point going ahead with the litigation.”

The judge’s ruling may be the last word on a project that divided the small community, drew crowds to council meetings and became the dominant issue in a heated municipal election in November 1994.

“The issue is over, it’s done, it’s finished,” City Manager Dick Velthoen said.

Moreover, the judge ruled the Sierra Club and association would not receive $200,000 in attorney fees they had sought.

After the development proposal fizzled, the homeowners and Sierra Club continued the litigation to recover their legal costs and to ensure the project was dead, said Alan Sanders, chairman of the Sespe Group of the Sierra Club, which has about 1,700 members in the county.

“The city has never rescinded the environmental impact report and we continue to have concerns that some plan could be developed to revisit a similar project,” he said.

But the judge’s comments, which indicated that a lengthy environmental review process would be ahead for any project on the same site, alleviated most of the group’s concerns, Sanders said. The club is evaluating whether to launch an appeal, he said.