Tuesday, July 3, 2012

NIMBYs do it to Mammoth Lakes just like they did it to Half Moon Bay


LOS ANGELES (AP) — Councilmembers in a small ski town high in California's Sierra Nevada voted unanimously Monday to file for bankruptcy, the second local government in the state to recently make that decision.

Mammoth Lakes is facing a $43 million judgment that's more than twice the town's budget. Papers seeking Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection could be filed in court as soon as Tuesday, according to Marianna Marysheva-Martinez, the assistant town manager.

The city of more than 8,000 people about 300 miles north of Los Angeles has lacked sufficient revenue to pay $2.7 million in obligations, and a state court has ordered it to repay its largest creditor, Mammoth Lakes Land Acquisition.

The town lost a property development fight that left it with a $30 million legal judgment in 2008. Mammoth Lakes had tried to back out of a 1997 agreement that gave a developer the right to develop a hotel and buy land in return for improving the local airport.

The town fought that judgment but lost its final appeal to the California Supreme Court. The tab has grown to $43 million interest and legal fees — a figure more than twice the town's annual budget of $18 million.

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Posted by Steve Sinai

2 comments:

Kathy Meeh said...

hsT"The town fought that judgment but lost its final appeal to the California Supreme Court. The tab has grown to $43 million interest and legal fees — a figure more than twice the town's annual budget of $18 million." (In the article link).

It seems a few cities will do anything to block city growth and improvement. The Mammoth Lakes developer might consider buying an oceanside quarry property in the picturesque, quaint city of Pacifica, CA. I hear the price is cheap.

Anonymous said...

Come on down, dude. Love to see ya take on the bird freaks and the CCC. Our natives are friendly, uh, more like really desperate for any kind of development, so who knows?