Mall Expansion Foes Win Hearing on Suit

A lawsuit filed by opponents of the Buenaventura Mall expansion deserves its day in court, despite arguments from Ventura city attorneys that the legal filing is defective, a Superior Court judge ruled Wednesday.

Last month, a group that launched a referendum drive to halt the project sued the city and Ventura County election officials for throwing out signatures on petitions that were collected by unregistered voters.

Judge William Peck has set a hearing in the case for June 3.

“Obviously we are disappointed,” City Atty. Pete Bulens said. “The court said they recognized why we filed the demurrer but they really had a desire to get to the merits of the case.”

The city filed a legal objection, or demurrer, alleging that the lawsuit was flawed and as a result the city should not have to answer the complaints.

Among the insufficiencies cited by the city was an argument that the group, Citizens Against the Sales Tax Giveaway, failed to name its sponsor, a San Francisco-based company that owns The Esplanade mall in Oxnard.

Ron Turovsky, the attorney representing the group, said the city’s allegation had no legal footing. “It was without basis and the court denied it,” he said.

The Oxnard mall stands to lose its two department stores if the Ventura mall is expanded. Esplanade owners have bankrolled the fight to stop the project.

Citizens Against the Sales Tax Giveaway qualified a measure for the March ballot last fall aimed at killing the project’s financing plan. The measure was defeated.

The group also launched a referendum drive to reverse the council’s approval of the mall expansion.

But the number of signatures needed to put the referendum before the voters fell short after county elections officials threw out signatures collected by petitioners who were not registered city voters.