UKIAH >> Another extension was granted in the court case halting progress on the proposed Ukiah Costco warehouse as the defendants, which include the city of Ukiah, have asked for more time to file a response to the opening brief.
According to recent filings in the case, which will be heard by the First District Court of Appeals in San Francisco, the appellant, Davis-based attorney William Kopper, first requested more time to file his opening brief, which was previously due on Nov. 9. He was granted 30 more days, and filed his opening brief just before the deadline last week.
The defendants, which also include Costco and Mendocino County, then had 30 days to file their brief, but also requested more time and were granted another 19 days. Their brief is now due on Jan. 25.
Kopper filed the appeal in July on behalf of a group called “Ukiah Citizens for Safety First,” after a Mendocino County Superior Court judge in May dismissed the lawsuit Kopper filed declaring that the Environmental Impact Report prepared for the Costco proposed for Airport Park Boulevard was inadequate.
The lawsuit was filed in early 2014 on behalf of four plaintiffs, two employees of Lucky and two employees of FoodMaxx, but all of them asked to be removed.
The only name still attached to both the group “Ukiah Citizens for Safety First” and the appeal is Kopper’s, as he has refused all requests to reveal any other names, only telling the Ukiah City Council the last time he appeared before it that there were “several” members.
