LAGUNA BEACH : City Wins Suits on Paint, House Size

The city has had three legal victories in the last two weeks, including one involving a $1-million lawsuit by a couple prohibited from moving into their new home because it was painted a lighter shade than the city had approved.

The suit by Denise and Nick Karagozian stemmed from a 1990 incident during which the couple painted their house eggshell instead of sandstone as approved by the Laguna Beach Design Review Board, resulting in the city’s refusal to allow utilities to be connected at the house until it was repainted.

The highly publicized case caught the attention of a radio talk-show host who took up the Karagozians’ cause, airing his program from their garage while supporters helped the couple stage a protest by painting the house with red, white and blue stripes.

Although the Karagozians later repainted their house a compromise seashell shade and were allowed to move in, they filed the federal lawsuit against the city, alleging that they suffered mental distress from the incident.

On June 15, U.S. District Judge Lawrence T. Lydick found that the Karagozians were required by state law to first seek relief in the California courts, according to a statement released by the city on Tuesday.

Since the couple did not file a lawsuit in state court, the city’s decisions are “final and conclusive,” the release said. City Atty. Philip D. Kohn said it is too late now for the Karagozians to file in state court.

The city has also won one of several lawsuits involving development plans for the rural Diamond Crestview neighborhood. The resolved lawsuit involved two lot owners who claimed a development plan for the area was unreasonable.

Kohn said Robert Peterson and James Burnes objected to a portion of the plan limiting the size of a house. They had asked the court to invalidate the Diamond Crestview Specific Plan and award them money damages, the release said.

However, on June 18, Orange County Superior Court Judge Leonard Goldstein dismissed the suit because the plaintiffs did not file it in the time allowed by state law, according to the city.

Finally, on June 9, Orange County Superior Court Judge Robert E. Thomas ruled for the city in a lawsuit filed late last year by the City of Costa Mesa.

That battle sprang from a 1989 incident during which a Costa Mesa woman called paramedics when her son came home feeling dizzy after falling from his bike, Kohn said. When the son was later found to have suffered brain damage, the woman and son sued Costa Mesa.

Costa Mesa then sued Laguna Beach because one of the paramedics who responded to the call was a Laguna Beach employee placed on paid leave so he could undergo a county training program, Kohn said.

As part of the training, the county had assigned the Laguna Beach paramedic to work in Costa Mesa, Kohn said. Costa Mesa had claimed that Laguna Beach should share the responsibility if Costa Mesa is ultimately found liable and the actions of the Laguna Beach paramedic are found to have played a part in that liability, Kohn said.

Thomas, however ruled that Laguna Beach is not liable for injuries resulting from the conduct of employees involved in the county’s paramedic training program, Kohn said.