Trial & Litigation Practice Group Wins Land Use/Zoning Dispute for Los Angeles County

Meyers Nave’s Trial and Litigation Practice Group achieved a closely watched victory for the County of Los Angeles in a case involving the illegal transport and dumping of concrete and other construction debris in an ecologically sensitive region in the Browns Canyon area of the Santa Susana Mountains, just north of Chatsworth. In his June 1 ruling, Judge Stephen P. Pfahler agreed with the Meyers Nave trial team that the owner and operator of the dump was violating the judge’s December 2015 order, which had enjoined the activity. The judge confirmed his prior order and imposed additional significant restrictions on the defendant’s activities, including the relief the community wanted the most – a ban on the trucks that had been endlessly caravanning across the narrow 3.2-mile road to the dump area. The defendant was also ordered to post No Dumping signs and submit a conditional use permit as well as an engineering grading application to address hillside stability issues.

The Meyers Nave trial team, led by Deborah Fox and Jenny Riggs, designed and implemented a strategy that marshaled overwhelming evidence, including the strategic use of drone surveillance and more than 500 exhibits, to support its successful motion on behalf of the County. In a press release announcing the victory, Fifth District Supervisor Kathryn Barger described the judge’s ruling as “an important victory for communities and the environment” and “applauded the court’s decision to finally put an end to the illegal dumping, the hundreds of trucks a day on Browns Canyon Road, and the general nuisance our local communities have had to endure for far too long.”