Judge to Hear Arguments on Road

A Ventura County Superior Court judge will hear arguments today on whether to force the city to step aside and allow a developer to complete the Borchard Road extension.

This could be the city’s last chance to stop the Operating Engineers Pension Trust of Pasadena from building the road--already seven months into the job--at a 12% grade. The road would be one of two main arteries to the $700-million, 2,350-unit Dos Vientos housing development.

The city approved the road in 1996 even though it would be 7% steeper than allowed by city code. City officials reconsidered the decision in 1998, after some residents said the road was too steep and dangerous for motorists and pedestrians.

Dos Vientos developers filed suit in Superior Court and last fall won the fight to continue building the road.

But the city is now withholding approval of the developer’s street improvement plan--the final step in the completion process. According to the developers, the city has used that final approval power to force the developer to regrade the slope, despite the court ruling.