Louis Rittenhouse drops lawsuit against Santa Cruz county.
“Hey, this would be a great place for a new development!” Louis Rittenhouse must have thought to himself as he wandered the property he co-owns at Soquel Drive and Thurber Lane. “If it weren’t for all these trees and that nasty stream.” That’s our dramatic recreation based on the true story (which, as we know from watching Hollywood movies, means nothing) of how real estate mogul Rittenhouse and other owners of the property ended up filing suit against Santa Cruz County for $6.3 million over damages related to a drainage ditch.
But now, a new, even murkier twist: Rittenhouse, a former Santa Cruz city councilmember, and the other plaintiffs filed on Dec. 16 to stay litigation against the county, effectively dropping the case for now.
According to court documents, Santa Cruz County installed a series of pipes between 1962 and 1989 above the property, which have sent water running through the mostly vacant 6.3 acre lot for decades. A drainage ditch formed, and the county made that central portion—about three-quarters of an acre—an “urban open space” in 1994 with an amendment to its general plan.
In 2010, Rittenhouse, who is best known around Santa Cruz these days for owning the famously vacant building on Church and Pacific, applied with the county to remove the vegetation and trees from the property. He demanded the county pay for the removal of the “Urban Open Space” designation, so he could build something there.
The county refused, and instead required Rittenhouse cover the cost of the $20,000 environmental impact report for the change—something Rittenhouse didn’t want to do. Instead, he filed suit. The $6.3 million in damages, the complaint alleges, would cover Rittenhouse’s losses from having the property, which is located in the county’s first district, lay mostly empty.
Santa Cruz County’s lawyers stated in their argument that the statute of limitations renders Rittenhouse’s case invalid. But Lund and Rittenhouse’s filings counter that the statute of limitations doesn’t apply because the problem is “continuing.”
Either way, Rittenhouse now thinks this can be handled outside the courtroom. He joined the advisory group for the Transit Corridors Plan for Sustainable Communities in Santa Cruz County, which is studying land use in the unincorporated part of the county where his property is. The Transit Corridors environmental impact report may or may not cover the mucky ditch, but Rittenhouse, it appears, figures it’s worth a shot.
“Our Sustainable Santa Cruz process is working with the community to decide what development should look like in the unincorporated part of the county,” says first district supervisor John Leopold, who has been involved in the Transit Corridors process. “That’s why we’ve been wanting to work with large land owners to get it right. I still think we can do that, and it takes two to tango.”
