SEAL BEACH : City Ordered to Pay Mola Foes’ Attorney

Superior Court Referee Greer Stroud has ordered Seal Beach to pay $46,272 in legal fees to the Wetlands Restoration Society, which successfully sued the city to overturn a Mola Development Corp.’s proposed development.

“That’s a lot of money,” said City Manager Jerry L. Bankston.

The money is not in the city’s budget, he said, so the decision “will certainly mean a reduction in spending in some areas.”

The society sued the city last year, alleging that Seal Beach’s housing plan had been out of date when the City Council approved Mola’s 149-acre, 329-home proposal on the old Hellman Ranch property.

After winning the case, Wetlands Restoration Society attorney Jonathon Lehrer-Graiwer asked the court to order the city to pay about $200,000 in legal fees and other costs.

“It could have been worse, but I think that she unnecessarily reduced the fee,” Lehrer-Graiwer said of Stroud’s decision.

The fees he requested were based on a $250 hourly rate, which the referee reduced to $175 an hour. He said he had also asked for extra compensation because he took the case primarily on a contingency basis and because it dealt with complicated legal issues.

In the meantime, the battle over the Mola project continues. After being overturned by Superior Court Commissioner Ronald Bauer, the project was rejected by a new City Council and city voters.

Mola sued the city for $11 million and resubmitted an application to build the project. In addition, Mola joined the city in appealing Bauer’s decision.

The appeal was heard in June by the state appellate court, which is expected to issue a decision within a month.

“I don’t like that it’s taking so long,” Lehrer-Graiwer said. “If they were going to affirm Judge Bauer on the Mola project, then I wouldn’t think it would take so long.”

Lehrer-Graiwer said if the Wetlands Restoration Society wins at the appellate level, he will try to recover more legal fees from the city. The city has refused to release its legal costs in the litigation, but it exceeded its budget for attorney fees last year.