Battle over Trinitas heats up

The battle between Calaveras County and the owners of The Ridge at Trinitas near Wallace is heating up.

Meanwhile, a development approved by the county on the shores of Tulloch Reservoir in Copperopolis is seeing one of its legal tie-ups being undone.
  

The county is pressing Trinitas owners Mike and Michelle Nemee on code compliance issues, citing alleged continued use of an 18-hole golf course on the property as prohibited under the property’s zoning.

The Nemees, meanwhile, have filed a pair of lawsuits against the county, challenging the Board of Supervisors’ 3-2 rejection of the project’s environmental review.

A subsequent letter from the planning department cited the May 12 project denial as effective denial of the property’s use for “any form of golf.”

The vote also strikes down a plan to build a resort at the site and open the golf course for public play.

The Nemees’ legal responses have included a suit that alleges county staff did not prepare the project EIR correctly and the “project would have been approved or at least ... (the) golf course would have been approved” had county officials done their due diligence in preparing the document.

County officials have declined to comment on the litigation.

While the Nemees are in conflict with the county about use of the property, their ownership of the land may also soon be in doubt.

A notice of default has been served against the couple, the first step in foreclosure proceedings. A loan of about $2.4 million to the Community Bank of San Joaquin is in default, meaning foreclosure could come in the next few months.

The Nemees could not be reached for comment Thursday at their business, Trinitas Olive Oil Co.

The Vista Del Lago townhouse project, unlike Trinitas, received a 3-2 vote in favor of development. However, a pair of lawsuits have kept it from going forward.

One reached a conclusion when the county settled with the Committee to Save Lake Tulloch, agreeing to have the developer move one of the townhomes if built. The house would have blocked a neighboring’s view and been located “20 feet away from their living room,” said Supervisor Russ Thomas.

Thomas’ District 5 includes Copperopolis and he voted with Supervisor Steve Wilensky against the project.

His opposition to Vista Del Lago and building out over the lake have been lauded by a community group known as the Lake Tulloch Alliance, which prepared a statement opposing the settlement.

"We are disappointed that the homeowners operating under the name of the ‘Committee to Save Lake Tulloch’ would think they are saving the lake by protecting one homeowner’s view. The Lake Tulloch Alliance has never been about just protecting current homeowners’ status,” the statement reads. “We have laid out a constructive set of policies that the counties and Tri-Dam should follow to insure sensible development that insures that future generations can enjoy the lake.”

The Tri-Dam Project, which provides water from Tulloch Reservoir for irrigation in the Central Valley, filed the other suit to halt progress on Vista Del Lago. General Manager Steve Felte said the agency will fight any attempts to further build out over the lake’s surface.   

“Our position has been made clear,” Felte said. “We don’t see a settlement at this point. There has been no movement toward our position.”