Developer Files Claim Against City

The developer of Morrison Ranch Estates has filed an indemnity claim against the city of Agoura Hills arising from a lawsuit in which homeowners sued the developer and later the city over slope failure.

Morrison Entity, the developer, filed the claim against the city on July 1, but city officials said they will reject the claim as untimely.

“They’re about a year too late for those claims,” said Wayne Pariser, an attorney representing the city. He said the claim should have been filed after the original lawsuit was presented by the homeowners against Morrison Entity in 1994.

Michael Greynald, a general partner with the development company, said he was unfamiliar with the claim, and Griffith Hayes, an attorney representing the developer, declined comment on the action. Greynald said the claim was just one of many in a series of cross-complaints stemming from the initial lawsuit.

The city was added to the homeowner association’s suit in March, when a Los Angeles Superior Court judge ordered that anyone who may be ultimately at fault in the action be named. At that time, only the developer and several subcontractors had been a party to the $10,000 to $30,000 lawsuit.

The association, which represents about 1,200 residents in the area, added the city because the city owns some of the property on which the slide occurred.

“We think we’ve been brought in to help shoulder the blame,” City Manager Dave Adams said of the developer’s claim. “The bulk of the claim is against Morrison Entity.”

Landslides have occurred on about a dozen sites within the development, with the largest occurring north of Woodbrook Drive and north of Fountainwood Street and Kimberly Drive.

The development contains about 20% of the city’s residents and is a large part of the city’s area.

But, Pariser said, just because the area is within the city limits does not mean the city is automatically responsible for any damages.