This is getting really dramatic!
K Street property owner sues city on two fronts
By Terri Hardy - thardy@sacbee.com
Published 12:00 am PST Friday, January 11, 2008
Sacramento is marching forward with plans to seize blighted land on K Street from property owner Moe Mohanna. Now Mohanna has fired back, with both barrels.
Mohanna's lawyer said Thursday they have filed two lawsuits against the city. The first, submitted to Sacramento Superior Court on Wednesday, claims a necessary environmental review wasn't done as part of the City Council's vote to pursue taking Mohanna's K Street land through eminent domain.
The second lawsuit contends the city failed to look at the detrimental impact that approving the massive downtown railyard development would have on K Street's retail scene, said Kelly Smith, who represents Mohanna and his property group, 718 K Street LLC.
The railyard, according to the eminent domain lawsuit, will "doom K Street and downtown mall retail business, result in urban decay and thus assure significant potential physical impacts to the K Street environment – boarded up buildings, deterioration of properties and deferred public and private investment."
Leslie Fritzsche, Sacramento's downtown development manager, said the city had not received copies of the lawsuit and could not comment.
Mohanna has pledged to spend millions of dollars to fight the city's efforts and vowed to keep the issue mired in the courts for years. These latest legal salvos could help with that goal.
"The K Street lawsuit could last six months to a year," Smith said. "The railyard (lawsuit) could last even longer."
Fritzsche said a delay on K Street "would be unfortunate."
