THOUSAND OAKS : Developer Takes City to Court Over Fees

A developer who for the past 17 years has fought Thousand Oaks over his efforts to build houses and a strip mall in Newbury Park has taken the city to court in an effort to recoup $140,000 in legal fees.

After listening to arguments from both sides during a hearing Friday in Ventura County Superior Court, Presiding Judge Melinda A. Johnson said she will hand down a written opinion on the case within a few weeks.

David DiJulio, Nedjatollah Cohan’s attorney, said he was pleased with the judge’s remarks, and expects his client to be reimbursed for about $100,000.

Thousand Oaks City Atty. Mark Sellers, who is representing the city, could not be reached for comment Friday.

Despite several major losses in state court, Thousand Oaks officials say they will continue to oppose plans by Cohan to build 144 residences and a 117,000-square-foot mini-mall on 47 acres in Newbury Park.

The state 2nd District Court of Appeal ruled in 1994 that Thousand Oaks broke the law when it rejected Cohan’s project in 1992. And the state Supreme Court refused in February to hear an appeal of the lower court’s ruling.

Nevertheless, city officials say they can still reject Cohan’s development because the 2nd District Court of Appeal ruled against the procedures Thousand Oaks used to deny the project, not the denial itself.

Meanwhile, attorneys for Cohan say they will sue Thousand Oaks for millions of dollars that the developer has lost during the delay. Friday’s hearing was solely to discuss whether Cohan should be reimbursed for his legal fees.

DiJulio said Friday that Thousand Oaks officials repeatedly described the case against Cohan as complex. But when Cohan suggested the case was so complex that it cost him a lot of money in attorney’s fees, city officials changed their tune, DiJulio said.

“Now that they are having to pay the piper, they are saying that it was not a significant case,” DiJulio said.