Despite a quiet hiatus, the legal showdown between the city of Patterson and the West Park industrial development is far from finished.

On Thursday, Feb.11, attorneys representing the city and the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors will present an oral argument to the Fresno Court of Appeals of an earlier lawsuit that was filed by the city and defeated early last year. In court this week, each party will be given a period of 15 minutes to justify their position and a decision should be issued four to six weeks later, said Patterson City Attorney George Logan.

According to Logan, Patterson will stand by the original lawsuit’s argument — claiming the county had violated state law by moving forward with a proposal by PCCP West Park LLC for a 4,800-acre industrial park and inland port in and around the county-owned Crows Landing Air Facility without first completing an environmental quality report required as part of the California Environmental Quality Act.

“We feel that the court made a mistake in their decision the first time, and we have a good case here,” he said. “Theoretically, the court of appeals will have a better set of judges accustomed to dealing with these sorts of situations.”

The decision to appeal was made by the Patterson City Council in late April of last year during closed session despite having already spent $275,000 on the case up to that point, partly because of a precedent set by the state Supreme Court in a similar case in 2008.

Developer Gerry Kamilos’ plan for the industrial park on the site of the former naval base has brought vociferous opposition from many on the West Side since its inception almost three years ago. Opponents have argued that while they would welcome any jobs created by the project, that the size of land called for by the West Park plan — an additional 3,300 acres of surrounding farmland to be added to the 1,527 acres that currently makes up the county-owned former Navy base — would have a disastrous affect on Patterson and its surrounding areas.

“I felt we had a strong argument then, and we still do,” said Mayor Becky Campo. “We feel pretty positive going into the appeal, and I’m hoping the judges will see our side.

“Even if the judges don’t side with us though, we’re counting on the fact that with the weakened economy, Kamilos’ project will fold without the proper finances. His track record tends to speak for itself.”

But those pursuing the county’s interests have yet to worry about the upcoming appeal.

“We are anticipating the judges will consider our previous argument and give the same ruling,” said Sabrina Teller, PCCP West Park LLC’s attorney who will also represent the county Thursday. “We still believe in the strength of our original argument.”

If the court rules against the county, Teller said the decision would identify any flaws in how the county is currently going about conducting the environmental impact report for the California Environmental Quality Act, but it would be up to the county how they would choose to act on that decision.

Conversely, if the court were to side against Patterson, council members would have the option of appealing that decision onward to the California Supreme Court.

“We would definitely have to study our options afterwards if that were to happen,” Campo said. “I wouldn’t say we would rule out the possibility of appealing the decision again, but if we could go about it another way — like approaching the supervisors to revisit the project again — it might be a better option.”

• Contact Kendall Wright at 892-6187 or kendall@pattersonirrigator.com.