County Wants Developer Defense Money

County officials want developers to reimburse the county for $250,000 in expenses it expects to incur this year in battling lawsuits filed against development agreements.

No formulas have been reached for how much each developer would pay, County Counsel Adrian Kuyper said Friday, but he will ask county supervisors next week to authorize clauses in future agreements to require such litigation fees should they become necessary. Planning officials will seek financial commitments from developers whose agreements have already been approved.

“There was an oversight in providing for this in the agreements--it should have been there,” Planning Department Director Robert G. Fisher said. “It is our longstanding policy to ensure that there is full-cost recovery of any expenses from plans and permits we may approve.”

The money collected from the developers, Kuyper said, would cover the cost to the county of hiring an outside lawyer to handle litigation stemming from lawsuits filed by proponents of the countywide slow-growth initiative against six agreements. The initiative is scheduled to be included on the June 7 ballot.

The lawsuits contend that the agreements unconstitutionally tie the hands of future decision makers by protecting developers’ projects from future land-use and zoning changes. In exchange for those protections, developers agree to help pay for road improvements and wildlife management programs.

The suits also contend that supervisors are hurriedly approving the agreements in a bid to circumvent the slow-growth initiative, should it be approved by voters.

Kuyper has recommended that the county hire as its outside counsel in the litigation Michael Gatzke, a Carlsbad-based lawyer who defended the county in lawsuits over airport noise and who represents it in airport development matters.

Kuyper will ask supervisors next week to allocate $100,000 to compensate Gatzke through the fiscal year, which ends June 30. Another $150,000 would be needed for his compensation for the remainder of the calendar year, he said.