The passage of Measure G gave resolution to the harbor area zoning, but at least one last area of contentiousness remains – a $354,000 bill that the city was landed with after losing its legal battle with Building a Better Redondo.
BBR’s victory in Superior Court last August compelled the city to put harbor zoning to a citywide pubic vote. BBR subsequently was granted its request for $354,000 in legal fees by Judge Robert O’Brien. But the city has appealed both the amount requested and the court decision itself.
Last week, the city won a victory in court when BBR was denied a request for an additional $27,000 in fees relating to fighting the appeal. BBR attorney Frank Angel also lost an attempt to declare moot the city’s appeal following the election.
City Attorney Mike Webb said that if O’Brien’s decision is overturned, the city will not be required to pay the fees. If the decision is upheld, the city may still be able to either reduce or eliminate the attorneys’ fees through its other appeal. Webb said the city’s legal fees – to an outside firm specializing in zoning issues that represented the city — were roughly a third of what BBR is charging.
“Last I checked we are at $127,000,” Webb said. “That was everything done through the appeal, not just the trial, whereas they requested $354,000 and then another $27,000 for work to have our appeal dismissed as moot. It’s an inappropriately high amount, and certainly something that no one who is truly interested in public welfare would have authorized.”
On election night, BBR Chair Jim Light made conciliatory remarks suggesting that he and BBR would like to help the city move forward. Councilman Steve Diels suggested Light could begin by working to reduce the legal fees. He noted that the fees represent the salaries of three police officers.
“It’s a huge deal,” Diels said. “In my mind, I have never found any rationale for what they are trying to do in undermining the city. Well, now I get it – it’s about the money.”
“They say, ‘Well, we want to work with the city,’” Diels added. “Okay, fine – work with us to lower the fees. Instead their next action is to try to increase the fees. So they don’t really have any interest in helping the city. BBR is a political organization that runs candidates for office in the city…Now they are looking to take city money to fund their operation.”
Light said that BBR has never supported a political candidate but instead has focused on giving the public a right to vote on major development issues. BBR crafted Measure DD, a ballot measure passed locally in 2008 that added City Charter requirements for a public vote on significant land use changes.
Light said that the council could have avoided the legal costs by obeying the city’s own law.
“The costs of the lawsuit are entirely the responsibility of the councilmen who voted to ignore the City Charter,” Light said. “Our lawyer deserves to get paid. Each appeal only adds legal costs on both sides. We went to five lawyers and each lawyer quoted a potential cost similar to Angel Law. The judge upheld both Angel Law’s rates and hours. Diels needs to take responsibility for his violation of the City Charter.”
Webb said that despite the city’s victory at the ballot box he believes BBR’s legal fight never considered its logical end result. He said that a BBR election victory would have had the reverse of the group’s intentions by reverting the city to its 1964 zoning.
“From the start I thought the lawsuit was ill-considered,” he said. “Although, as I indicated from the start, reasonable minds could disagree on the outcome. But it was an ill-considered effort because it cost both sides time and effort, and had they prevailed at the ballot box they would have increased allowable zoning more than anyone had done in 50 years. And given the outcome of Measure G, given the fact the City Council was already committed to having an election, and give the fact that voters supported the zoning – it’s also clear that BBR did not represent the will of the majority of voters in Redondo Beach.” ER
