A protracted-running authorized dispute over the destiny of a small island in San Francisco Bay ended Wednesday when Level Buckler Island was bought at public sale to the John Muir Land Belief, a nonprofit conservation group.
The land belief used a court-awarded credit score value about $3.8 million to buy the 29-acre personal island on a 50-acre parcel that’s a part of Solano County and is located in a tidal marsh separating Suisun Bay and Grizzly Bay. It’s a important habitat and hall for delta smelt, Chinook salmon and different species.
It was the topic of a chronic authorized back-and-forth between its former proprietor, John Sweeney, and county, state and federal regulators that started in 2016 when the San Francisco Bay Regional Water High quality Management Board ordered Sweeney to take away unpermitted infrastructure he constructed on the island, together with a couple of mile of levies that he had restored.
He additionally confronted a grievance from the U.S. Environmental Safety Company that he violated the federal Clear Water Act.
After profitable an preliminary decrease court docket determination, Sweeney misplaced his bid to reverse greater than $2.8 million in fines for the development work after the water board appealed the decrease court docket’s ruling that Sweeney didn’t want permits for the work.
A lien was positioned on the island by Solano County, which bought it at public sale on the courthouse steps after he refused to pay the wonderful and its curiosity of about $800,000.
Sweeney referred to as the public sale “illegal” in an interview and famous that the sheriff’s workplace opened the bidding on the roughly $3.8 million price ticket that the island rapidly bought for.
The quantity was primarily based on the fines and curiosity Sweeney nonetheless owes, which was awarded as a credit score to the John Muir Land Belief in December after the court docket recognized the nonprofit as a prepared purchaser that might agree to revive the island’s pure state and promise to not promote it.
Sweeney and his spouse have been arrested following the public sale on an impressive bench warrant for contempt of court docket within the civil trial after refusing the choose’s orders to undo the levy work and pay the wonderful, Sweeney stated in a cellphone interview.
He stated the 2 have been launched after a short look earlier than a choose and are due again in court docket in about two weeks. He stated he might face as a lot as 200 days in jail and his spouse might withstand 20 days in jail.
John Muir Land Belief’s Govt Director Linus Eukel confirmed that the bidding began increased than the Land Belief was anticipating, however stated he had no drawback with how the method was dealt with. He stated the belief was ready to pay that quantity anyway, noting that the belief wasn’t truly paying something, however was utilizing the court-awarded credit score primarily based on Sweeney’s excellent fines, which stay unresolved.
Eukel stated restoring the pure state of the island could be a pricey dedication for the land belief however was important for the bay’s tidal move, habitat and species.
He stated in an interview that restoring the island would price tens of millions of {dollars} and would probably exceed the acquisition price. However he stated it might be an essential part of the land belief’s Bay Delta Marketing campaign which additionally consists of the restoration of Pacheco Marsh to the west and Hoover Ranch, on Bethel Island.
The manager officer of the water board, Eileen White, stated it was glad to place the authorized struggle to relaxation.
“The sale of Point Buckler Island offers a new path forward, and we are confident that the nonprofit John Muir Land Trust will restore it into an example of responsible environmental stewardship,” White stated in a press release.
The Land Belief is obligated to adjust to the appellate court docket’s order that the island be returned to its pure state.
Sweeney, who ran a kitesurfing membership and duck searching membership on the island after he bought it in 2011, raised a number of objections to the consequence and accused the state of stealing his property.
“It’s been a painful process,” he stated.
