Hidden Creek Ranch Retrial Bid Rejected

A Superior Court judge Tuesday tentatively turned down a request for a new trial in a long-running legal battle over efforts to build the Hidden Creek Ranch housing development near Moorpark.

In his provisional ruling, Judge Thomas J. Hutchins rejected a bid by attorneys for the developer, Costa Mesa-based Messenger Investment Co., to retry issues raised in a lawsuit aimed at halting the project.

Agreeing with attorneys for the Environmental Coalition of Ventura County, Hutchins ruled in August that the Local Agency Formation Commission--the state-authorized organization that governs annexation and boundary issues--violated state laws and its own policies in permitting the land transfer.

Hutchins at that time overturned the city’s annexation of the 4,300-acre ranch parcel needed for the 3,200-home development.

On Tuesday, Messenger attorney William Ross argued that some aspects of Hutchins’ August ruling were in error and asked that a new trial be granted. Hutchins didn’t immediately see it that way, though he did take the matter under submission and is expected to make a final ruling in the next couple of days.

If the tentative ruling stands, it would deal a significant blow to a decade-long effort by Messenger to build Hidden Creek Ranch, a sprawling development near the city’s north end that would significantly boost the city’s population during the next two decades.

Ross said his clients will wait until a final judgment is entered before deciding whether to appeal.