COURT REJECTS HEARING APPEAL OF CHALLENGE TO RAIL PURCHASE OXNARD, CA -- The Oxnard Harbor District's purchase of Ventura County Railway Co. will stand, after the California Supreme Court last week declined to hear an appeal of the lawsuit challenging the deal. The city of Port Hueneme sued the Harbor District in 2005 over purchase of the railroad company, citing a state law that requires city approval when a harbor district acquires land within city limits. A Ventura County judge and a state appeals court both ruled in the Harbor District's favor. The purchase did not require city approval, the courts said, because the Harbor District bought only a controlling interest in the limited liability corporation that governs the railroad. Under state law, that does not give the district direct ownership of the limited liability corporation's land or other property. The state Supreme Court was the city's last chance to have the earlier rulings overturned. - The Ventura County Star
