City Hires Experts for Dos Vientos Trial
City leaders have hired experts on construction, appraisal and market conditions to testify when its court battle with the developers of Dos Vientos Ranch starts May 15 in Ventura County Superior Court.
Two developers sued the city two years ago for $50 million after the City Council issued a stop-work order in July 1998 on the Borchard Road extension to the development. One of the developers, Miller Bros. Investments, has filed a request to dismiss its case against the city.
But the other developer, Operating Engineers Trust, has hired its own expert witnesses and says it is prepared to go to trial.
City officials stopped the project after nearby residents and engineering consultants raised safety concerns. Developers contend that the unfinished road delayed their ability to sell housing tracts, which in turn cost them a potential profit of up to $50 million.
A Ventura County judge overturned the council’s stop-work order in fall 1998. City officials expect the road extension to be paved by month’s end and to open in June or July.
The city’s expert witnesses, including Price Waterhouse Coopers of Los Angeles, will be paid up to $100,000.
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