Judge Clears Way for Sale of Honey Springs

In the latest skirmish of a seven-year legal and legislative battle, a federal judge in San Diego has cleared the way for the foreclosure sale of Honey Springs Ranch. The move apparently will derail, at least temporarily, plans for a controversial residential development in East County.

U.S. District Judge Howard Turrentine on Monday refused to grant an injunction sought by Presenting Inc. which was seeking to block foreclosure proceeding. The firm had planned to build 389 homes on a 553-acre site about six miles southeast of Jamul.

If the foreclosure sale of the Honey Springs property, which covers more than 2,000 acres overall, proceeds as scheduled on March 16, it would represent at least a temporary victory for the coalition of environmentalists and area homeowners that opposed the project as “leapfrog” development in a largely rural section of the county.

However, the opponents’ pleasure over Turrentine’s ruling was tempered by the knowledge that at least one more legal chapter remains to be written in a case that already has taken numerous twists in local courts and legislative arenas.

In Monday’s hearing, Turrentine delayed until March 9--one week before the scheduled sale--a ruling on a suit in which Presenting Inc. claims that FirstSouth Savings & Loan of Pine Bluff, Ark., breached an agreement to provide a $39-million construction loan for the Honey Springs project.

The Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corp., which last month declared FirstSouth insolvent and closed it, has asked Turrentine to dismiss the developer’s lawsuit. The judge, however, has questioned whether his court has jurisdiction over the suit--a legal query to be settled at the March 9 hearing.

FSLIC attorneys deny that FirstSouth violated the loan agreement, and contend that Presenting failed to fulfill various conditions required to receive the loan. Presenting officials could not be reached for comment Tuesday.