Homes or Open Space: Dispute Gets Deadline
County supervisors set an Oct. 5 deadline for opposing sides in a 20-year-old property dispute to resolve the fate of land off El Toro Road that sits next to an abbey and a Rama Krishna monastery.
Supervisor Todd Spitzer enlisted the help of Supervisor Thomas W. Wilson on Tuesday to mediate an impasse between attorneys representing the religious orders, which want to buy the land and leave it undeveloped, and the property owner, Aradi Inc., which has the authority to build 705 manufactured homes on the site.
County supervisors have grappled for years with the project, which is opposed by South County residents as too intense for the ecologically sensitive area. Property owners counter-offered to build 299 single-family estates on the site but that plan hasn’t yet been approved by supervisors.
Attorneys for both sides argued for 45 minutes Tuesday over which side was more responsible for delays in nailing down a purchase deal. Spitzer recommended that county planning officials and Assistant County Counsel Ben DeMayo sit in on future meetings.
He warned both sides that Oct. 5 was a “drop-dead date” for resolving the matter.
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