By MORGAN GREEN NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
In a victory for the Hope Ranch homeowners' association, a judge upheld a $277,000 fine levied on a resident for building on his property without permission and ignoring years of warnings to correct it.
The decision by Santa Barbara Superior Court Judge James Brown settles a key dispute in a sizzling six-year feud between the Hope Ranch Park Homes Association and the owner of the wealthy rural neighborhood's largest estate, the Mariposa Land Development LLC and its operator William Harger.
Mariposa's penalty is the first that the Hope Ranch group has ever imposed, said Jim Trebbin, the association manager.
The penalty is possibly the largest of its kind in the state, said the group's attorney, Jim Herman, who described Mr. Harger as "the neighbor from hell" who "disrespected his community ever since he moved in."
Posted by gandlwoods at February 19, 2005 06:25 AM