Development

New mayor will appoint majority of Design Review Board, steering future Richmond development

In January, Mayor Tom Butt will leave office, and a majority of the Design Review Board may follow him.  The City Council rejected Butt’s proposed appointments of two new members to the DRB in a 3-3-1 vote at the Nov. 15 meeting. Vice Mayor Eduardo Martinez and council members Claudia Jimenez and Gayle McLaughlin voted against the appointments. Council member Melvin Willis abstained.  “I’ll tell you a little secret,” Butt told the council. “We’re not going to have a quorum…

Richmond hit with another Point Molate lawsuit, indefinitely delaying any development

Point Molate, a scenic stretch of San Francisco Bay shoreline, has faced one legal battle after another over its ownership and development potential.  A new lawsuit, filed on May 27 in Contra Costa County Superior Court, seeks $20 million from the City of Richmond and threatens to tie up the 425-acre plot indefinitely. Winehaven Legacy LLC, a subsidiary of developer SunCal, has accused the city of breaching its contract and breaking the Brown Act, which governs public meetings in California. …

Big jury award could open door to another cannabis dispensary in Richmond

A court case last month possibly set the stage for a new cannabis dispensary in Richmond, the resurrection of an old fight to keep it out — or both.  Two Richmond dispensary owners were ordered to pay $5 million in damages for conspiring against a rival owner. On Sept. 23, a Contra Costa County jury found that William Koziol and Darrin Parle, who operate the Green Remedy Collective, had prevented a prospective dispensary, Richmond Compassionate Care Collective, from establishing a…