Judge Scolds City Officials, Throws Out Citizens’ Suit

A North County Superior Court judge threw out a citizen lawsuit against the City of Del Mar on Friday but not before chastising city officials for their failure to use plain English.

Judge Gilbert Nares declared moot the suit filed against the city, noting that city officials already had acted to rectify alleged violations mentioned in the suit by approving an agreement to allow a beachfront restaurant to expand.

Nares pointed out, “It never fails that if you use plain English, a lot of problems are avoided.” He admonished Del Mar City Atty. Roger Krauel and three council members present to “say what you mean to do” when listing items on the City Council agenda.

The suit, filed by the Public Interest Law and Legal Society, contended that the Del Mar City Council had approved an agreement with the Poseidon Restaurant allowing expansion of an outdoor dining deck across a public beach access without giving proper public notice or allowing public comment.

The suit also claimed that Mayor James Tetrault failed to disclose a possible conflict of interest when he voted on the issue. Tetrault has since disclosed that he is a director and holds a less than 3% interest in the Bank of Del Mar. John Blake, co-owner of the Poseidon, is chairman of the bank’s board of directors.

Thomas Gilmore, the attorney representing the public interest law group, argued that the City Council had disguised the Poseidon agreement under a council agenda heading: “Call for Bids for 1984-85 Drainage Projects (Poseidon Del Mar),” and had approved the agreement with little discussion and no public input about midnight Jan. 21.

At the next council meeting, Feb. 4, residents protested the decision and demanded that the agreement be rescinded until a public hearing on it had been held, Gilmore said.

The public interest law group headed by Del Mar resident Harvey Furgatch filed suit against the city in February and, on March 18, the council rescinded the controversial agreement and authorized City Manager Bob Nelson and Krauel to negotiate a new expansion plan with the Poseidon’s owners.

Nares admitted that there may have been some illegal actions taken by the council but concluded that the matter was moot after the council members rescinded the agreement with the restaurant.

Opponents of the expansion argued that the restaurant would block a 30-foot public beach access at the foot of 17th Street without returning any benefits to the city or its residents.

Gilmore said after Friday’s court hearing that he is convinced that the city acted to revoke the agreement because the citizen lawsuit was filed.

“We are going to be watching carefully to be sure that, in the future, there is proper public notice and public hearing on this,” he said.