San Benito County is suing Ridgemark Corp. claiming that the
company’s real estate office located within its development does
not comply with zoning laws.
Through the lawsuit filed in Superior Court last week, the
county is seeking that the office halt business there
– along with potential fines to the corporation reaching $2,500
a day the business has been in violation.
San Benito County is suing Ridgemark Corp. claiming that the company’s real estate office located within its development does not comply with zoning laws.
Through the lawsuit filed in Superior Court last week, the county is seeking that the office halt business there – along with potential fines to the corporation reaching $2,500 a day the business has been in violation.
That area is zoned for residential use only, according to Deputy County Counsel Darren Bogie, and the building is permitted to function only as a single-family home.
Ridgemark Realty has been operating at 605 Ridgemark Drive since 1984, according to Kenneth Bettencourt, Ridgemark president and also owner of the office.
He said the building was constructed for the purpose of housing the office.
Bogie said Ridgemark – if found in violation – could be penalized for each day the building has functioned as an office. If that happens the maximum fine for the suit could reach into the millions.
“How much of that is actually imposed would be up to the court and individual facts of the case,” Bogie said.
Ridgemark Corp. is represented by local lawyer John O’Brien. He had not seen the suit yet when reached Friday. Bettencourt also first heard about the suit Friday.
“That’s news to me,” Bettencourt said.
Beyond that, both declined to respond to the allegations because they had not read the suit.
According to a Jan. 21 letter from O’Brien to County Counsel Karen Forcum, Bettencourt believed the county “may have approved the subject property for use as a real estate sales office.”
The letter – which is included among court documents – goes on to say Bettencourt had still been investigating whether that approval was ever granted.
Now a potential court battle comes less than a year after San Benito County and Ridgemark finished a grueling and unrelated civil case against each other.
The development company sued nearly three years ago because the county would not re-zone Ridgemark properties. It was seeking $23 million in damages, according to the county’s lawyer Nancy Miller.
The county won the case – which culminated with a trial – in the spring of 2003. Though it cost taxpayers about $100,000 in private attorneys fees.
Whether the County Counsel’s Office is concerned about the public’s view of another civil case against Ridgemark, Bogie said, “I don’t make those kinds of policy decisions. I enforce the laws in the county.”
During recent Board of Supervisors closed session meetings, county officials discussed “anticipated litigation” with Ridgemark Corp., according to meeting agendas. Bogie declined to say whether the suit filed Feb. 4 was the subject of those discussions.
The suit claims the office location has created a public nuisance in a residential neighborhood. Such a placement can add increases in traffic and parking, Bogie said.
“It’s a standard code enforcement lawsuit,” Bogie said. “And it speaks for itself. We want the property to be in compliance with the zoning.”
The alleged code violation was discovered sometime before Oct. 10, 2003, when associate planner Byron Turner wrote a letter to Ridgemark Corp. regarding the issue.
In the letter, Turner wrote the county Planning Department never authorized the building’s use as a real estate office – and that Ridgemark should apply for a zone change if it wished to continue operating there.
Turner did not return phone calls made to his office Friday.
Ridgemark has since applied for the zone change and a coinciding amendment to the General Plan, according to court documents.
The defendants, according to the suit, refuse to halt the office’s activity. The county is also seeking attorneys fees.
A case management conference with a judge and the two parties is scheduled for May 10, according to Bogie.
