Half Moon Bay has reached a settlement in an eminent domain lawsuit relating to the acquisition of six undeveloped parcels near the Arleta Park neighborhood for open space preservation as part of the city’s lot retirement program, a Feb. 9 press release from the city said.
The city will pay $400,000 in total to settle the suit and receive ownership of the parcels, the press release said — $141,000 for the property’s appraised value and $259,000 to avoid further litigation around the lots. The payment will be made from Half Moon Bay’s lot acquisition and development fund, not the general fund.
“Personally, I think it’s a good settlement,” Half Moon Bay Mayor Debbie Ruddock said. “We feel it’s definitely more representative to what we feel the property is worth, given the infrastructure and national resource constraints.”
A lawyer representing the case for the defendant, Thomas Gearing, did not immediately respond to request for comment. Gearing died last year, Ruddock said, and the settlement was reached with an attorney for Gearing’s son and family.
The city’s lot retirement program eliminates undeveloped, substandard lots from development in naturally substandard areas, Ruddock said. It’s a requirement from the California Coastal Commission and part of the city’s Local Coastal Land Use Plan and part of a settlement with the developers of the Pacific Ridge Subdivision.
Recommended for you
That developer committed upwards of $2 million to Half Moon Bay for the lot requirement program, Ruddock said, which requires equal elimination of undeveloped, substandard lots to offset new residential development.
Eminent domain powers allow the government to require the sale of private property for public use, though Ruddock said the city remains committed to ensuring property owners receive just compensation when that power is enacted.
“The city is committed to negotiating fair market value. We don’t want to take people’s property, we want to compensate them accurately to fair market value and we want to work with people,” she said. “We feel it benefits the community by reducing hazards and risks and helping to concentrate development in areas that are more supportive.”
The city will continue the lot retirement program with a goal of obtaining property that’s naturally vulnerable, including wetlands or areas experiencing erosion, Ruddock said, reiterating that while the city was pleased with the outcome of the settlement, it’s possible that eminent domain lawsuits will come to the forefront again.
“It’s a good conclusion to the issue. Will it come up again? Maybe,” she said. “It’s in our land use plan, it was required by the Coastal Commission, [so] we will proceed.”
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO
personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who
make comments. Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. Don't threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Anyone violating these rules will be issued a
warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be
revoked.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.