• The legal challenge regarding the value of land Seaside sold to KB Homes.
• The plaintiff is Benjamin Kaatz and the defendants are the City of Seaside and K&B Bakewell Seaside Venture LLC.

• Land Prices Were Under Valued
  The lawsuit alleges that last year’s conveyance of prime real estate to the developers for $5.95 million did not come even close to recovering the true value of the land for the public, and was unlawful, and should be set aside.
• Homeowners Must be Aware of Pending Litigation
  Obviously, potential homebuyers need to know the status of the litigation.
  “It is critically important that potential homebuyers and members of the public have easy access to the detailed court documents in this taxpayer action,” said Gary Patton, Executive Director of LandWatch Monterey County. “That’s why we’re putting the documents on the LandWatch website. Ownership of the lots that KB Homes is proposing to sell is at stake in the litigation. Homebuyers have the right to know what the parties in the lawsuit are arguing and what the Court is ruling. Since the lawsuit is brought on behalf of the public, members of the public also have a vital interest in the court proceedings.”

LandWatch engages in the public process in a variety of ways. For this project, here is a list of our engagement strategies.

• Press Release: LandWatch Announces That Court Documents Will Go Online
  LandWatch Monterey County and the Law Offices of Jay P. Renneisen, counsel for the plaintiffs in the lawsuit challenging the Seaside Highlands development, have announced that key pleadings and court documents will now be available on the internet, at two different locations. Having easy access to the key documents in this lawsuit will be of assistance both to potential homebuyers and to members of the public. (10.06.03)

• KB Home one-page disclosure to Seaside Highlands homebuyers regarding lawsuit, presented to Court at August 15th, 2003 hearing by KB Home attorneys (109K PDF)
• Plaintiff’s First Amended Complaint filed by the Court on August 8th, 2003. Exhibits not included. (2.1M PDF)
• Plaintiff’s Motion for Preliminary Injunction, filed July 16th, 2003. Includes Declarations of U.S. Rep. Sam Farr, Nader Agha, Appraiser Richard Van Steenkiste, and Tom Cravens. Some exhibits not included. (14.0M PDF)
• Defendant’s Opposition to Plaintiff’s Motion for Preliminary Injunction, filed July 28th, 2003 (7.6M PDF)
• Plaintiff’s Reply to Defendant’s Opposition to Motion for Preliminary Injunction, filed August 1st, 2003 (2.2M PDF)
• Transcript of hearing at which Plaintiff’s Motion for Preliminary Injunction was granted by the Court, August 7th, 2003 (137K PDF)
• Plaintiff’s Opposition to K&B Motion to Vacate Preliminary Injunction, filed August 14th, 2003 (2.5M PDF)
• Transcript of hearing at which K&B’s Motion to Vacate Preliminary Injunction was granted by the Court, August 15th, 2003 (2.8M PDF)
• Plaintiff’s Case Management Report, filed September 15th, 2003  (1.1M PDF)