The ongoing legal battle over the Betabel Road commercial project is in a holding pattern as attorneys for the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band and the Center for Biological Diversity wait for their appeals to be decided by the state’s Sixth District Court of Appeals.
The move came after San Benito Superior Court reversed its initial decision in April of allowing the groups to march forward with their lawsuits against the Betabel commercial development project’s proponent Rider McDowell and the County of San Benito.
“The court determined that our petition was untimely. We disagree with that conclusion,” said Sara A. Clark, attorney with Shute, Mihaly and Wenberger, the firm representing the Amah Mutsun.
On May 24, San Benito Superior Court Judge Patrick Palacios ruled that the lawsuits brought against McDowell and the county regarding the board of supervisors’ earlier decision to approve the Betabel project were not filed in time.
“Meritful claims, extremely meritful claims, are often denied their day in court, if you will, because the statute of limitations was not followed. That’s the case here,” Palacios said in the ruling.
Valentin Lopez, chairman of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band, is disheartened by the ruling.
“Very disappointed with the judge’s decision. We absolutely believe that it was incorrect,” Lopez said.
In December 2022, the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band filed a lawsuit against the San Benito County Board of Supervisors and developers of the Betabel project—following a similar complaint filed by the Center for Biological Diversity and the environmental group Protect San Benito County—claiming the board violated the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) in approving a conditional use permit for the commercial proposal.
The groups sought the reversal of permit approvals by the county, which were granted despite an alleged inadequate Environmental Impact Report (EIR) that failed to account for serious potential environmental effects, according to the filing.
At an April 24 hearing, the legal team for the McDowell Charity Trust requested the CEQA lawsuit be thrown out based on what they considered an “untimely and invalid appeal.” The defense claimed that the appeal, or lawsuit, was not filed within the statute of limitations established by CEQA law.
Attorneys for the Amah Mutsun Tribe argued that they were not given the required amount of time to appeal. At that hearing, Palacios considered the implications of the lawsuit as important enough under “equitable tolling” to not be thrown out.
Prior to that hearing, California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a motion to intervene in the lawsuits on behalf of the plaintiffs on March 23. The state sought to consolidate the two cases and represent the groups based on the merits of the CEQA allegations.
By the May hearing, however, Palacios reversed course.
On July 13, the legal teams for the plaintiffs filed an appeal on Palacios’ ruling and the matter was brought to the Sixth District Court of Appeals. Clark is expecting a decision by early 2024.
Simultaneously, attorneys for McDowell are now seeking to recuperate fees racked up during the two-year legal process and are bringing the matter back to San Benito Superior Court. The next hearing for that matter is Nov. 29.
Clark said that her team is asking the court to delay any action on that until they complete their appeal process. Lopez is hopeful for the outcome.
“It’s just the wrong decision. And we’re appealing and we’re hopeful that we will prevail,” Lopez said.
Rider McDowell could not be reached for comment.
Located at 9644 Betabel Road adjacent to Highway 101, the 26-acre project proposed by the McDowell Trust includes a total of 108,425 square feet of commercial space—with a gas station and convenience store, restaurant, up to five amusement buildings, a visitor center, three-story motel (with an outdoor movie screen), event area, livestock corral, farmstand and related parking, restrooms, driveways and other supporting facilities.
The McDowell Charity Trust has promised to donate all profits from the development of the Betabel Road site to pediatric cancer research.
