Judge Rejects Bid to Delay Legal Case Over Landfill : Courts: Proponents of Weldon Canyon dump wanted to postpone decision until after November election. Hearing is set for Aug. 22.

The legal case against the Weldon Canyon landfill initiative will be argued before a judge in one month, giving the courts a chance to settle the matter before it goes to Ventura County voters in November.

In a hearing Friday, retired Appeals Judge Richard W. Abbe rejected a move by landfill proponents to delay the decision until after the election. Instead, he set a court date for Aug. 22.

“I believe this matter should go forward,” Abbe said.

Officials opposed to the initiative, which would ask voters to approve zoning and land-use rights for a landfill, said the expedited schedule was essential to their case.

“It is very, very important to the county that this matter be heard and determined by the end of August,” Assistant County Counsel William Moritz told the judge. That would leave time for appeals before the county prints its ballots for November.

“The initiative in our view asks the voters to pass a law that would be unconstitutional,” Moritz said. The county is expected to support the lawsuit filed by the Ojai and Ventura city councils.

Backers of the landfill said the schedule would leave them little time to prepare a case. And it could deny voters a chance to speak on the matter, they argued. Residents throughout the county signed petitions this spring, putting the Weldon Canyon matter to a vote of the people.

“We’re dealing with a constitutional right,” said Wes Peltzeran attorney representing supporters. “It’s up to the voters to decide.”

Peltzer also argued that the judge should add Taconic Resources, the San Diego County partnership pushing the ballot initiative, to the lawsuit. Currently, the suit names only Eloise Brown, the Moorpark activist who started the petition drive.

Abbe refused to add Taconic, saying it would only delay the case.

Abbe, a retired justice on the 2nd District Court of Appeals, was picked for the case after five Ventura County judges removed themselves or were disqualified from hearing the politically divisive matter.

The landfill issue pits communities in the western half of the county against neighbors to the east. Fearing that the west county will begin shipping its trash to the Simi Valley Landfill, many east county residents want to see a site developed in the west.

A plan for Weldon Canyon was dropped last summer when it became clear that the Board of Supervisors would not approve it. A new group, Taconic Resources, is asking the voters to grant the needed approval for the project.

Abbe said he was unaware of the political machinations surrounding Weldon Canyon.

“I saw a bumper sticker on the way in that says ‘Dump Weldon.’ I don’t know what that means,” he told the lawyers assembled before him.

“I don’t know anything about Ventura County,” he said. “I live in Santa Barbara County. I like it down here, though. I’d hate to see it covered with trash.”

The issues before him in next month’s hearing will focus on the legality of the ballot initiative. Lawyers for Ojai and Ventura argue that the measure violates the law in at least a dozen ways. Chiefly, they say an initiative cannot be used to grant land-use rights to a specific company.

Peltzer and Taconic officials say the measure is legally defensible and should go to the voters in November. Peltzer said a similar case, involving a ballot initiative and land-use rights, is coming before the state Supreme Court this fall.

The judge should wait for a decision in that matter before ruling on the Ventura case, Peltzer argued. “There just isn’t any reason not to allow the voters to vote on this,” he said.

Abbe rejected that reasoning and set a four-week schedule for filing briefs and preparing arguments. The county has not officially joined the suit, but is expected to file a brief in support of the Ojai and Ventura suit.

Three of five supervisors oppose the measure, and the county counsel has declared it legally invalid.