Quick Take
A Superior Court judge ruled against the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission in an Aptos Village property dispute regarding Segment 12 of the Coastal Rail Trail. The commission’s executive director said that the ruling is surprising and that the organization “respectfully disagrees,” but says the project will continue moving forward.
A Santa Cruz County Superior Court judge has ruled that an Aptos Village property owner, not the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission (RTC), owns disputed land for parking at a local shopping center — land the commission sought to use for the Coastal Rail Trail.
The dispute involves the ongoing rail trail project and centers on Segment 12, a 1.25-mile stretch planned to run from State Park Drive to Rio Del Mar Boulevard through Aptos Village. The RTC sought to “quiet title” the area where parking sits for the businesses, a legal proceeding to determine the ownership each party has of the property in question.
While the commission moved to build Segments 9, 10 and 11 on top of the railroad tracks last December to keep the project within budget, this section and the rest of the trail is still slated to run adjacent to the rail line as originally planned. The design would require the RTCuse a portion of the land that other property owners use for parking.
The Bayview Hotel, which has been looking for a buyer for several years, and Trout Gulch Crossing next door are the two properties involved in the dispute. Trout Gulch holds a few different businesses, including Betty Burgers, Caroline’s thrift store and Norma Jean’s Coffee. Betty Burgers owner Laurie Negro also owns the building. Monday’s ruling involves only the Trout Gulch Crossing property.
In this case, the ruling determined that ownership sat with Negro. Her attorney, Carlsbad-based Timothy Dillon, explained that the decision largely came down to a settlement agreement that involved Negro, the RTC, Santa Cruz County, and Swenson Builders, when the development company was working on the Aptos Village development that includes condos, townhouses, and businesses, including New Leaf.
The state’s Public Utilities Commission required Bay View Crossing to be closed in order for Parade Street in front of the development to open to through traffic, which leads to the development. Negro and her then-husband, Juan Valledor, signed a trust in October 2020, which made them the owner of the property — and the settlement defined the trustees the owner of the property as well.
Dillon said that Judge Syda Cogliati “held the RTC to their own agreed upon stated facts in the settlement agreement, which defined the trust as the owner of that entire section.”
“This was a very easy way to reach the same conclusion that I think the court would have reached after witnesses and everything else,” he said, adding that a full trial would have likely lasted roughly a week. “There’s 150 years of history here that shows this area has been used for parking.
“It’s very hard to think there was any surprise. [The RTC] was aware of Ms. Negro’s claim that she owned [the disputed property] for more than a year, and they worked with counsel and held onto the agreement for six months before signing it.”
In a statement sent to Lookout, RTC spokesperson Shannon Munz wrote that the organization is disappointed in the outcome and is considering next steps “which may include acquiring the additional property rights necessary to construct the project and/or appealing the decision.”
“I feel great about the outcome because it was the right outcome,” said Negro. “I never in a million years believed that they had any right to my property.”
Negro added that she is concerned about more legal action regarding this property moving forward, but if it does come to that, “I’ll do the best I can to protect my tenants and property rights.”
RTC Executive Director Sarah Christensen told Lookout that the ruling “was definitely a surprise.”
“The project is still moving forward. We’ll see what the commission wants to do, but this is very fresh and very surprising,” she said. “But we just have to put one foot in front of the other. There is a path forward.”
Christensen said it’s not clear how the commission might proceed from this point, but it could weigh a number of options.
“We’re a public agency. We are building a public project, and public agencies have the ability to acquire private property for projects,” she said. “If we have to do that, that’s a possibility.”
——
FOR THE RECORD: This story has been updated to include responses from Negro’s attorney, Timothy Dillon.
——
