Landowner Sues City Over Tract Project

By Tatiana Prophet, Daily Press, Victorville, Calif.

Feb. 2–VICTORVILLE — A landowner is suing both the city and KB Home, alleging the homebuilder has been encroaching on its empty lot and looking to force the city to require a new environmental study of its housingtract project. San Diego-based Warrior River Corp., a consortium of investors, alleges that KB Home has been using the lot to access its own job site, causing fuel, oil and hydraulic fluid to contaminate the property by storing vehicles and equipment there. The lawsuit, filed in the Barstow courthouse, further alleges that KB built an embankment and roadway on the lot at the southwest corner of Amargosa Road and Village Drive, and that a portion of a natural stream bed was filled with earth and used as a dirt road for the construction of KB Home’s project. The alleged alteration of the streambed is one of the environmental issues that prompted Warrior River to petition the court to force the city to require another review under the California Environmental Quality Act. “Our contention is that they’re deviating from the (original) approval given by the city,” said Geralyn Skapik , an environmental attorney based in Riverside. “We want to make sure CEQA is complied with … and that KB Home halt all activity.” Reputed streambed changes would become Warrior River’s responsibility if nothing were done, she added. “You get fined for that,” she said. “That’s a serious issue, a very serious issue. It’s not like you can just go and fill it in.” According to the petition, the plaintiff was planning to keep the stream intact in its own development project. According to the city’s planning department, Warrior River submitted an application in 2005 for 22 homes on the lot. But so far, the company has not gotten a permit to grade. Grading is evident on the site. The city declined to comment on the pending litigation, as did KB Home. In a separate lawsuit, Warrior River, through its trustee James S. Coleman, is suing KB Home directly for damages, both punitive and actual, as well as a restraining order and preliminary injunction. KB Home has filed a motion to strike punitive damages, and a hearing regarding that motion is scheduled for Feb. 5 in the Victorville Courthouse.

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Copyright (c) 2007, Daily Press, Victorville, Calif.

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