Sohum developer Bob McKee has been ordered to pay $200,000 in fines to Humboldt County in the culmination of a costly 11-year lawsuit over McKee’s purchase and division of Tooby Ranch near Garberville.
The ruling, filed Friday by Humboldt County Judge Dale Reinholtsen, calls for McKee to pay fines for violating the Williamson Act, which offers tax benefits for ag land in active production (the Journal wrote about the lawsuit previously here). A state court previously determined McKee sold parcels of the Tooby Ranch that were under the minimum size required by the act. Over the course of the lawsuit, McKee argued that his divisions were legal, because the former owners of Tooby Ranch initially entered a Williamson Act contract with the county when smaller parcels were allowed. Despite a local ruling in McKee’s favor in 2006, the appellate court determined that he had violated the act, and sent the case back to local courts to determine a resolution.
The county spent at least $3 million pursuing the court case since 2004. That figure was released by the county following a separate lawsuit.
In his ruling, Reinholtsen wrote that “both sides acted reasonably but imperfectly” and said McKee could be credited for believing he was following the law when he divided the land.
“The evidence did not support the notion that he is a victim of local government run amok,” Reinholtsen wrote. “At the same time, he cannot be reduced to the caricature of a greedy land developer who flouts the law in the careless pursuit of profits.”
The ruling is not final. Both parties have 20 days to file objections with the court.
This article appears in ‘FOUND: Dreadlock’.
I wonder when a local journalist will dare to estimate and report the fortune spent on attorneys by HumCPR and its owners: McKee, Kluke, Bareilles, Barnum, et al, over the last decade???
$10 million? $20 million?? More??
And the poor working families of Humboldt County have NO IDEA what the quid pro quo might be……it’s rarely reported!
Like it or not, the County, state and Federal governments are the ONLY entities capable of contravening the power and excesses of these greedy men. For that, citizens owe a debt of gratitude in what little enforcement and prosecution We The People have received.
The development community spares no expense to dominate every local elected and appointed office to protect their perceived entitlement to take the public’s infrastructure for their personal goldmine of remote subdivisions and McMansions; passing the unfunded public liabilities to the 75% of local residents that are priced-out of the housing market they created.
Sorry judge, but further subdividing rural lands in this era of rapidly depleting resources, water, and the bio-diversity that once depended on it, is indeed greedy.
SoCal offers limitless examples of where the profiteer speculator’s and developer’s “best intentions” are taking us.
I wonder when a local journalist will dare to estimate and report the fortune spent on attorneys by HumCPR and its owners: McKee, Kluke, Bareilles, Barnum, et al, over the last decade???
$10 million? $20 million?? More??
And the poor working families of Humboldt County have NO IDEA what the quid pro quo might be……it’s rarely reported!
Like it or not, the County, state and Federal governments are the ONLY entities capable of contravening the power and excesses of these greedy men. For that, citizens owe a debt of gratitude in what little enforcement and prosecution We The People have received.
The development community spares no expense to dominate every local elected and appointed office to protect their perceived entitlement to take the public’s infrastructure for their personal goldmine of remote subdivisions and McMansions; passing the unfunded public liabilities to the 75% of local residents that are priced-out of the housing market they created.
Sorry judge, but further subdividing rural lands in this era of rapidly depleting resources, water, and the bio-diversity that once depended on it, is indeed greedy.
SoCal offers limitless examples of where the profiteer speculator’s and developer’s “best intentions” are taking us.
And the crazy attorney promptly declared victory against the Evil County because the fine was not higher! Justice is measured by how much you spend if you’re in HumCPR.