POWAY: City wins appeal in Royal Mobile Estates suit
By GARY WARTH – gwarth@nctimes.com | Monday, July 13, 2009 7:51 PM PDT ∞
A legal battle between the Poway Royal Mobile Estates and the city may be at an end following an appellate court’s decision to allow the city to refinance the bond debt from the park’s purchase.
Poway officials and park residents have had numerous legal fights since 2004, when the city first announced its intention to sell the park. The homeowners associations at the 399-space mobile home park said they wanted to buy their park and sued when the city considered a higher offer over theirs.
The city won that lawsuit after a judge ruled it was not obligated to sell the park to the residents.
Park residents also sued the city last year about Poway’s plan to sell up to $32 million in bonds to refinance its debt from the purchase of the park. Residents argued that the sale was illegal under the state Community Redevelopment Law.
A judge ruled in the city’s favor in August, and on July 9 an appellate court upheld the earlier decision.
Poway City Attorney Lisa Foster said the ruling becomes final 30 days after it is issued, and the residents will have 10 days after that to petition the state Supreme Court if they want to continue the fight.
