SCCRTC Parking Lot Trial Set for Oct. 19

By Jon Chown

The trial over who owns part of an Aptos parking lot is now scheduled for Oct. 19, more than three months after the case was originally expected to go to trial.

Santa Cruz County Superior Court Judge Syda Kosofsky Cogliati is scheduled to preside over the court trial beginning at 9 a.m. in Department 5, according to a court document filed Sept. 29.

The Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission filed the lawsuit Oct. 2, 2023. It asks the court to settle competing ownership claims to about 3,452 square feet of a parking lot at 403 Trout Gulch Road.

The RTC sued Laurie Negro and Juan Valledor, the former owners of the property, along with Trout Gulch Crossing, Cristina Locke and Bayview Hotel in Aptos LLC. Betty 41st LLC, which now owns the property and is associated with Betty’s Burgers, was later added to the case.

At the center of the dispute is a deed signed by Jose Arano on Dec. 30, 1876, and recorded in January 1877. The deed gave the Santa Cruz Railroad Company land for a railroad right of way, its main track, a side track and a depot.

Both sides trace their claimed rights to that deed but disagree over what it actually transferred.

The RTC argues that Arano gave the railroad full ownership of the property, known as “fee simple.” Betty 41st argues the railroad received only an easement, giving it the right to use the property for railroad purposes without owning the land beneath it.

The RTC says the property remained with the railroad through a series of company mergers and eventually became part of Union Pacific Railroad. The RTC purchased the 32-mile Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line from Union Pacific in 2012.

Betty 41st has argued that the disputed area has been used for customer and tenant parking since at least the 1940s.

The case has also produced disputes over what evidence can be presented at trial. Both sides filed motions asking Cogliati to exclude various records, including title insurance documents, county parcel maps and a 2020 agreement involving the closure of the Bayview railroad crossing.

The trial was originally scheduled for June 29 but was delayed after the court had difficulty finding an available courtroom. The court held another trial calendar call Sept. 10 before Judge Jerry Vinluan and set the new date.

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The case is Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission v. Trout Gulch Crossing, case No. 23CV02345.