SEAL BEACH : Claim Filed Over Housing Permit Ban

A resident has filed a $3,000 claim with the city for damages allegedly incurred during the three-week ban on residential housing permits here.

The city stopped issuing the permits March 6 after a verbal order from Orange County Superior Court Commissioner Ronald L. Bauer that no major projects should be approved until the city’s state-mandated housing plan for future development had been updated.

Bauer clarified the ruling on April 2, saying that the order did not apply to permits requiring special permission from the Planning Commission or the City Council. The city is now issuing residential construction permits for single-family homes and other projects that do not require a special permit.

But Bruce Stark, a retired attorney, claims the city unnecessarily began denying the permits the day the verbal order was issued, rather than waiting for the second order. He claims the three-week delay cost him $3,000 in interest on remodeling loans.

“There is no . . . written order that prohibits the issuance of a building permit,” Stark said. “This is a purposeful misinterpretation of the ruling.”

City Atty. Carol Lynch disagrees. “I can’t imagine that a judge would find us in the wrong for complying with an order of the court,” he said. “We obviously do not want to upset the judge. We took the course we believed was prudent.”

Stark entered his claim at this week’s City Council meeting and encouraged all other residents and developers who had lost money because of the permit ban to file for losses within 60 days.