Environmental Groups Appeal Ruling on Naples Development

Environmental Groups Appeal Ruling on Naples Development


Environmental groups are appealing the latest court ruling against them in the ongoing dispute over the proposed Naples residential development on the Gaviota Coast.
The Environmental Defense Center, Naples Coalition and the Surfrider Foundationsued Santa Barbara County for its 2008 approval of the Santa Barbara Ranch Project, which includes land on both sides of Highway 101.

They alleged the county violated theCalifornia Environmental Quality Act, the Coastal Act and planning and zoning laws, because the project was split into an inland portion and a coastal portion, though it still was covered by one environmental impact report.
In July, Superior Court Judge Thomas Anderle upheld the county’s approval of a 71-home development proposal for the inland portion of the project, and the environmental groups said at the time they might appeal.
That appeal was filed Thursday in state court, according to a statement by the EDC and Naples Coalition attorney Marc Chytilo.
Naples Coalition president Greg Helms said the subdivision “will cause significant and unavoidable environmental impacts, and forever alter the rural character of eastern Gaviota” in a statement Thursday.
“We are committed to preserving this land,” EDC staff attorney Nathan Alley said in a statement. “It’s just a matter of time.”
The housing development still has to go before the California Coastal Commissionto get approval for the coastal portion before the inland project can even go forward, EDC attorneys have said.
Additionally, the Naples property was foreclosed on by First Bank in 2010 after developer Matt Osgood defaulted on loan payments. One buyer fell through, and no other purchaser has been identified thus far.
— Noozhawk staff writer Giana Magnoli can be reached atgmagnoli@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk,@NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.

Reposted from the Independent:

http://www.independent.com/news/2012/jun/13/deal-buy-naples-dissolves/

William B. Dewey

An aerial view of Naples, on the Gaviota Coast.

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Deal to Buy Naples Dissolves

BondRok and CrossHarbor Spit the Bit

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Wednesday, June 13, 2012

by ETHAN STEWART (CONTACT)

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Well, that didn’t take very long.

Less than a month after publicly announcing that they were in the due diligence phase of a purchase and sale agreement to buy Naples, word came this week that CrossHarbor Capital Partners, an investment firm from Boston, and BondRok Partners, LLC, an LA-based development outfit pegged to potentially build the beloved and mostly pristine Gaviota property, have decided to pull out of the tentative deal.

Expressing his pleasure about the news, Naples Coalition lawyer Marc Chytilo, the man who represents the organization that has been working to prevent a build-out of the property since former owner Matt Osgood looked to plop several dozen McMansions on the land, opined Tuesday, “Our view has always been that this property should never be developed and this only confirms our belief.”

Since the spring of 2010, Missouri’s First Bank has owned the Naples property after Osgood defaulted on his $63 million loan with the bank. And while there have been a handful of rumored suitors for the property and its approved development plan, the BondRok/CrossHarbor camp was the first to be serious enough to actually take meetings with county officials in recent weeks.

Though calls to First Bank and CrossHarbor by The Santa Barbara Independent were not returned as of press time, according to sources within the county, the purchase agreement was “mutually terminated” by both the would-be developers and the bank.

Supervisors Vote No Confidence On Naples Project

Written by KEY News Staff

Story Created: May 15, 2012 at 10:40 PM PDT

The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors are questioning whether the potential new developers of the proposed Naples housing project along the Gaviota Coast can actually complete the development.

In a statement released by Naples Coalition, "This was a vote of no confidence in the proposed new owners" explained Naples Coalition Board member Mike Lunsford.

The Naples Coalition is made up of local non-profit groups whose mission it is to preserve the rural character of the Naples property and the Gaviota coast. Specifically, the coalition is responding to Vintage Communities, an Orange County development company that wants to build between 54 and 72 large luxury homes on the coastal bluffs at Naples.

According to the Coalition, the new developers reportedly include a bank and a private equity firm who are in the process of buying the property. They want the County to approve the transfer of one part of the preliminary entitlements tentatively approved by the County in October 2008. The County has 45 days to approve, reject or take no action on the proposed transfer.

Lunsford said in the statement, "These potential new developers have never successfully processed a development in Santa Barbara County, or in California's coastal zone. Their experience has mostly been in Las Vegas, Dallas and Wyoming. I expect that they may be gaining an appreciation for the magnitude of the obstacles they will face in attempting development at Naples on the Gaviota Coast".