April 15, 2011
PRESS RELEASE-FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Tom Resch, PSPOA president, (818) 780-0200
Kelly T. Smith, owners’ attorney: (916) 442-2019
COURT FINDS PACIFIC SHORES PROPERTY OWNERS
CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS VIOLATED BY STATE FISH & GAME AND
COASTAL COMMISSION FLOODING
SACRAMENTO—The state of California violated the constitutional property rights of property owners at the Pacific Shores subdivision, north of Crescent City, when it instituted a “lake management regime” that allows Lake Earl to rise to levels which flood the private property, according to a decision Thursday in Sacramento Superior Court.
Judge David De Alba’s ruling vindicates the struggle of property owners at the sub-division, who have long complained that the state was flooding them out of their property to turn the entire subdivision into a nature preserve. The state and federal constitution require that “fair
compensation” through eminent domain procedures is required for such damages.
“The judge’s findings reflect what the Pacific Shores Property Owners Association has said for years—the state has acted with a total contempt of citizen rights in its management of Lake Earl,” said Thomas Resch, president of the PSPOA, who joined the organization to bring the suit. Additional Pacific Shores owners have filed a further suit on the same grounds.
Throughout the legal battle, the state of California continued to throw up every possible obstacle to the property owners, challenging the lawsuit for years with preliminary motions. The trial lasted most of a month. The judge found both the California Department of Fish & Game and the California Coastal Commission “substantially participated” in the purposeful flooding that resulted after a 2005 “Lake Earl Management Plan” and supporting environmental impact report were adopted.
The case now proceeds to value the damage to the property resulting from the flooding, again in Sacramento County Superior Court.
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