RG4N Verdict Will Be Slow in Coming

Sorry that I've been a bit slow in updating on the Responsible Growth for Northcross trial this afternoon – after three days of hurriedly dashing off posts over my lunch before rushing back to the courtroom, I thought I'd enjoy a more leisurely meal today. Defense attorney Casey Dobson summed up my feelings today when he said in his closing arguments, "In about half an hour … I'm gonna go have a beer, and it's not gonna be with a drainage engineer."

Here's the short version: RG4N's lawyers said that the city didn't follow the letter of the law and owes Northcross neighbors a hearing; the city and Lincoln Property's lawyer's said city staff shouldn't be expected to interpret the law with "bloodless literalism" or out of context, and Judge Orlinda Naranjo said that, with the holidays coming up, it will take her a while to review all the testimony and evidence and that a verdict shouldn't be expected until mid-December.

UPDATE:

RG4N sent out their observations/opinions of the closing arguments in an e-mail to supporters:

"The attorneys for the City and for the developer really seemed to rely heavily on the argument that the planned redevelopment will improve some conditions at Northcross over what they are currently and because of this, the judge should ignore any noncompliance that exists. Our perspective is that the standard is what the law says, not just anything that may be better than what currently exists (or, as some City staff testified, no worse than what currently exists). You don't get to break the law no matter how beneficial your project might be.

"As Doug noted, if the developer wants to do something that doesn't comply, they can seek a variance.

"While Doug acknowledged that some provisions in law do permit interpretation and discretion, he also pointed out (and City witnesses agreed) that some provisions of the law (in particular, ones that the site plan doesn't comply
with) are mandatory and not open to interpretation.

"-- TRANSLATION

"We're just laypeople, not lawyers, but we walked out of the courtroom today feeling good. We believe our attorneys proved what they needed to prove, that our case was persuasive and that we have a good shot at winning. Win or
lose, we are satisfied that RG4N and our attorneys have done everything possible as well as possible to get a better redevelopment at Northcross Mall."