Resort Firm Won’t Face Charges Over Dirt

The corporation that owns the Ventura Beach RV Resort did not violate terms of its probation or any city ordinance when employees stacked mounds of river silt in front of Emma Wood State Beach, a judge ruled Tuesday.

The ruling means resort owner Tom Staben will not be criminally charged nor will his corporation, Ventura Beach RV Resort Inc., face $5,000 in fines and extension of its probation, attorneys said.

“This guy did nothing wrong,” Ventura defense attorney Alex Gutierrez said. “He didn’t violate probation nor did he violate any other ordinances the city of Ventura contended were violated.”

Officials contended Staben’s corporation violated city zoning and public nuisance codes--and therefore breached its probation--by storing the dirt next to the resort’s property, situated at the entrance to the state beach.

The incident occurred after the corporation was placed on three years’ probation for violating city zoning restrictions last summer by storing 5,000 square feet of construction blocks in an area visible from a public street.

Staben met a city-ordered deadline to remove the dirt by June 15.

With Tuesday’s hearing, the city unsuccessfully sought to have the corporation’s probation revoked and stringently revised. Deputy City Atty. Karl Berger said the judge’s decision will not be appealed.

“It’s not like this decision takes away the probation from the corporation,” Berger said. “We are going to continue to monitor the activities down there.”

After witness testimony and arguments and then taking the matter under submission for a couple of hours, Superior Court Judge James P. Cloninger ruled the city had failed to prove its case.

The city’s sole witness was Sherry Jeffrey, a code enforcement officer who testified she had inspected the property and saw the pile of dirt, Berger said.

Meanwhile, resort employee Ernie Coccia testified that mud and debris reached the property as a result of El Nino-fueled flooding, Gutierrez said. Coccia also said the mud and debris were piled and stored for three weeks because the material was too moist to be removed. The city had also claimed the corporation was grading without a permit, Gutierrez said.

The judge “agreed with the defense position that all this guy was doing was removing from the site mud that had been deposited there because of flooding,” Gutierrez said. “It could have been hauled out of the site earlier if it had been dry.”

Tuesday’s ruling was a victory for Staben. The longtime county flood-control contractor has been the subject of ongoing state and federal probes to determine whether he has violated environmental laws on various county projects and at his Somis farm.