NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., Aug. 10, 1999 (PRIMEZONE) -- The Presley Companies (NYSE:PDC) and Cerro Plata Associates said today they have filed a lawsuit to obtain appropriate permits to allow their Ranch at Silver Creek housing development to move forward.
The Ranch at Silver Creek would provide 538 homes on approximately 15 percent of the total property. More than 50 percent of the total acreage will be a protected environmental habitat as part of a conservation plan established by Cerro Plata, and the remaining 33 percent is dedicated to a golf course. Cerro Plata, of which Presley Homes is a member, is the developer of The Ranch at Silver Creek.
Presley pointed out that "Notwithstanding the eminently clear environmental mitigation actions we have taken with respect to this project and despite the fact that noted ecologists have embraced our plans and succinctly approved them, the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Commission has fought this project every step of the way and fought it on spurious grounds.
"For example," Presley continued, "The Commission claims that the Bay Checkerspot Butterfly, an endangered species, is on the property. All evidence is to the contrary and shows that this species has not been on the property for nearly five years, a fact that the Commissions disputes, but refuses to produce any evidence for its position. Moreover, The Ranch at Silver Creek development specifically establishes 71 acres as a Checkerspot Butterfly restoration area, as well as other open acreage. The habitat conservation plan Cerra Plata has established will have an initial funding of $1.6 million, of which $1.3 million will be applied to this restoration area. Moreover, this conservation plan is not just for one year, or two, or three. It is established in perpetuity with funding of $200,000 annually."
Presley stated that "The City of San Jose is in the heart of the Silicon Valley, an area that is undergoing California's worst housing shortage. We have taken every possible precaution to mitigate environmental damage to this area. And in fact our plan will restore several endangered species. If we do not proceed on schedule, if we are prevented from doing so by the Fish and Wildlife Commission, that entity itself will be responsible for potential significant environmental damage."
The company said "If we are prevented by the Commission from moving forward with appropriate grading of the property and completing that grading before mid-October, seasonal rains will likely cause substantial amounts of exposed, unstable soils to wash into an adjacent creek basin resulting in severe environmental harm to not only the creek, but the San Francisco Bay into which it drains. This event will violate state and federal clean water laws and clog nearby flood control channels, with the potential result of flooding in existing residential areas."