Wagon Wheel headed back to court

The fight to preserve the iconic Wagon Wheel will return to the courtroom this week, as members of a historic conservancy seek a new trial after losing their battle to save from demolition the western-themed motel and restaurant in Oxnard that they say has historic value.

Plaintiffs and defendants will square off once again on Nov. 17 in Ventura County Superior Court, protracting further a lawsuit the San Buenaventura Conservancy claims was handled unfairly because the judge presiding based his decision on erroneous information.

The group says Judge Glen Reiser — who approved last week the conservancy’s request for an 11th hour stay halting destruction of the Wagon Wheel — should retry the case because the environmental documentation with which he was presented wrongly informed his ruling in favor of developers.

In September, the judge had approved developer Vince Daly to go forward with his $110 million, mixed-use Oxnard Village project, rejecting the conservancy’s dedicated bid to restore the Wagon Wheel back to its appearance in its 1950s heyday as a popular, Americana-drenched tourist destination.

Daly’s project calls for up to 1,500 residential units, with more than 100 low-income dwellings and 50,000 square feet of commercial space on the 64-acre site.

The conservancy had sued last March, alleging that city officials ignored CEQA, the California Environmental Quality Act, in their support of the development. The lawsuit also took issue with a series of archival audio, video and photo installations included in the plan, which the conservancy believes is not enough to mitigate the loss of the genuine Wagon Wheel.

But rather than appeal its defeat in court, the conservancy decided to move for a new trial because those same CEQA guidelines, in an environmental impact report (EIR) submitted jointly on behalf of the developer and the City of Oxnard, were inaccurate, says Stephen Schafer, conservancy president.

“We think the judge’s decision isn’t wrong, but the basis of that decision has factual flaws,” Schafer said. “That’s the crux in our case. The numbers are incomplete; they don’t tell the whole story. If you base the court case on them, you have a flawed argument.”

The conservancy’s motion takes exception to the judge’s ruling that saving the Wagon Wheel, or at least part of it, would be financially infeasible, and that the EIR failed to address how saving the Wagon Wheel could be a profitable move.

It states that the developer’s claim that he would stand to lose $13 million by taking pieces of the Wagon Wheel and incorporating them into his project, minus two new buildings, is false.

In the filing from Oct. 15, Susan Brandt-Hawley, the conservancy’s attorney, estimates that rehabilitating the Wagon Wheel’s motel and El Ranchito restaurant would come to less than $9 million. Once reopened and running again, both businesses stand to generate an $8 million annual profit, says the conservancy, disproving the notion that saving the Wagon Wheel would compromise the developer’s plans. Both projects, according to the conservancy’s motion, can be carried out at once.

“We’ve always tried to make it clear that we’re not against the development,” Schafer said. But he added, “In a nutshell, they said the project is more important than the Wagon Wheel, and that’s illegal.”

Attorney Brandt-Hawley would not comment for this story, choosing instead to stand by the conservancy’s motion as an official statement.

Developer Daly expressed his shock at the judge’s emergency stay, issued just as crews had arrived at the site to begin demolishing the Wagon Wheel.

“I’m frustrated,” he said. “They’re (the conservancy) just asking the judge to reconsider a ruling he took many months to decide without adding any new information. In the meantime, they’re stopping me from doing what I was legally entitled to do.”

Out of all portions of the Oxnard Village plan, the affordable housing aspect stands to suffer most with every passing week the project is delayed, Daly said.

His attorney, Mark Dillon, could not be reached for comment. Alan Holmberg, city attorney for Oxnard, believes the judge’s ruling was fair, final and in line with what officials from the Oxnard City Council and Planning Commission had agreed upon more than a year ago.

“Obviously, we thought we had a hearing. The judge considered all the evidence and made a ruling based on that evidence. We were quite satisfied with that ruling,” said Holmberg. “We don’t think what was presented as a motion for a new trial presents a basis to change the decision of the court.”

Should the conservancy’s motion be denied, the stay of demolition remains in effect until Nov. 30. According to Schafer, the ongoing case is the conservancy’s “most significant action item” and is not pursuing any other preservation projects as actively as Wagon Wheel.

The conservancy, which stepped up to save property outside of its Ventura home base, is the only group known to have taken up involvement in the Wagon Wheel’s plight. No other historic preservation groups, specifically in Oxnard, could be tracked down for comment.

Schafer could not comment on how much the conservancy has spent in legal fees, but said that the group has relied a great deal on donations from people across Ventura County and statewide.

Daly is confident the judge will uphold his decision next week.

“I hope that cooler heads prevail,” Daly said. “I think the CEQA law is cut and dry and on our side.”   

paul@vcreporter.com