Developer Sues City Over Condo Rejection

Galveston County Daily News, September 26, 2007
by Leigh Jones

GALVESTON — Developer Lamson Nguyen filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the city of Galveston, claiming the city council acted illegally when it denied permits for a condominium project on English Bayou.

The suit, filed with the 10th District Court, accuses the council of making its decision long before members took their public vote two weeks ago.

Nguyen bases his claim on an e-mail his consultant received in late August saying that District 1 Councilwoman Patricia Bolton-Legg told city economic development proponents they had no reason to consider incentives for Nguyen because his project had no support from the council.

Bolton-Legg is supposed to have made the comments during a meeting with Jeff Sjostrom, head of the Galveston Economic Development Partnership, and Sue Darcy, administrative consultant for the Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone 12. Nguyen had requested the zone’s board consider helping him to buy some land adjoining his project so that he would not have to make unpopular changes to the road connecting 61st Street with Broadway.

But in an Aug. 24 e-mail to Doug Matthews, who was working with Nguyen to get the condominium project approved, zone board chair Steve Schulz said he was not sure how to proceed in light of Bolton-Legg’s comments.

“Sue (Darcy) called and spoke to me Wednesday morning that she and Jeff (Sjostrom) met with Patricia Bolton-Legg last week and she jumped (Darcy) and told her that there was no support for this project on council because of the marina,” Schulz wrote.

Nguyen never was able to make his request to the reinvestment zone board.

The lawsuit also claims the council acted illegally by even considering the project’s marina during its deliberations because that is allowed use under the property’s commercial zoning. That means Nguyen needed no city council approval for the boat slips.

The project’s opponents primarily targeted the 40-slip marina and the proposed traffic plan during the public hearing before the final vote.

Nguyen’s lawsuit claims the council approached its decision as a popularity contest, listening to the opponents who did not cite any engineering studies to show their concerns were valid.

Anthony Griffin, Nguyen’s attorney, said he thought the council had a right to regulate development but not be unreasonable.

“If we base decisions on popularity, a lot of people won’t be able to do anything with their property,” he said, echoing complaints levied against the council by the Galveston Chamber of Commerce after the Nguyen decision.

The suit specifically names Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas and Mayor pro tem Danny Weber as acting illegally because of their comments about being opposed to any development on the site that would trigger changes to the road. The Texas Department of Transportation has jurisdiction over the road, and state engineers have said they would require the reconfiguration no matter what Nguyen or future owners build on the land.

Nguyen wants the council decision reversed and wants the city to pay for his legal expenses.

Bolton-Legg did not return a call for this story.