The Contra Costa County Superior Court ruled in favor of Friends of Pine Meadow, a political action committee, that filed a complaint against the City of Martinez and DeNova Homes. The complaint held that the cityâs resolution 011-17 incorrectly changed the zoning of the former Pine Meadow golf course from âopen space/recreationâ and cleared the way for development of the 26 acre parcel.
âThis is a huge victory for the citizens of Martinez, and a victory over those civic leaders and special interests who would further their own interests at the expense of what is best for our entire community,â said Tim Platt, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. âBringing a lawsuit against the City Council and a wealthy developer is a daunting undertaking, but the Councilâs and the developerâs actions in rewriting history would have set a dangerous precedent for manipulating our government. It is a shame that citizens have to go to such lengths to keep our leaders from taking actions that the court has ruled are not legal.â
On Jan. 18, 2017, a majority of Martinez City Council agreed with former owner Christine Dean and DeNova Homesâ contention that the golf course was zoned and designated for residential development, rather than for open space or recreation.
The court disagreed with the councilâs action writing, âno reasonable person could have reached the conclusion the City did in 2017 that âthe Subject Property has a residential land use designation, it clearly did not have one in the 2010 General Plan or any time thereafter.â
The court recognized this battle will not likely end with this current ruling.
âEach side in this case has reason to be frustratedâ, the court wrote in itâs 22-page decision. âThe lack of clear documentation in the City’s records has contributed to years of litigation, multiple lawsuits. The court is under no illusion that its current ruling will end this dispute.â
DeNova argued, and the majority of the Council agreed, that poor documentation by the city, the lack of a final map and conflicting designations allowed that parcel to be zoned for development.
The court ruled against that argument saying, âin the end, however, none of this matters, because Orange Citizens (court ruling) instructs that the court must focus on what happened from 2010 on and not in or before 1973, when the Hidden Lakes Specific Area Plan was adopted and amended. By 2010, the golf course property had consistently been represented to the public as being open space property for many years, and that representation was reaffirmed in the 2010 update to the General Plan.
âUntil January 18, 2017, the City always applied the language of the disputed map to the golf course property.â
City attorney Veronica Nebb said, âbased on the Courtâs ruling, and absent any further court action by the developer, the City Council will address rescinding its January 2017 resolution relating to the completeness of the developerâs application. That means that the developerâs application will currently be incomplete and would need to be made complete prior to any further action.