PUC in Court Over Land Sale Fail
The Napa Valley Register reports that Pacific Union College is suing its former partner, Sustainable Community Partners LLC, to prevent the company’s use of a procedural maneuver to block the sale of land PUC owns. The college agreed in early 2013 to sell off a large portion of its Angwin, California property for development. Sustainable Community Partners was to be the developer. According to the company’s now outdated website,
Curt Johansen, Principal in Sustainable Community Partners, LLC, has been working collaboratively with the college in pursuit of a uniquely sustainable neighborhood that would set the national standard for communities seeking to harmoniously blend economic prosperity with environmental protections and social equity. The groundbreaking of the project may occur as early as 2012.
The Angwin Conservation Community is planned to protect over 90% of the college’s land forever in agricultural and open space zoning. A compact footprint for the 191 residential homes includes two sites, each within a five minute walk from the core campus.
The plan drew criticism from some Adventists, in part because the proposed development included vineyards. The deal eventually fell through. Now, according to the Register,
Both sides are swapping allegations in court, with PUC aiming to keep its former partner, Sustainable Community Partners LLC, from placing a pending lawsuit notice on hundreds of acres of land in Angwin, preventing a potential sale.
PUC filed the complaint Dec. 18, eight days after Sustainable Community Partners allegedly threatened to record a “lis pendens,” or a notice of a pending lawsuit, against the property title, according to the complaint.
In response, Sustainable Community Partners alleges the college wrongfully backed out of the land sale deal, and used last-minute “gotcha” chicanery to keep it from successfully buying the land, according to court records.
Read the full article at the Napa Valley Register.
