Lafferty court date postponed to June

The Lafferty Ranch dispute will head back to court in June, in what could be the beginning of the end for the decades-old feud.

Defense attorney Les Perry, representing property owners Kimberly Pfendler and the Bettman-Tavernetti family, said the case management conference will involve plaintiffs, defendants and counsel scheduling upcoming litigation.

"The court will inquire about where we are procedurally and make a decision on what dates to set in the future," Perry said. "There won't be anything of substance coming out of it."

It marks the next step in what has been a decades-long battle over access to Lafferty Ranch, a 270-acre piece of city-owned land northeast of Petaluma.

Last month, the Friends of Lafferty filed a second amended complaint, which included the addition of the City of Petaluma as a plaintiff. The amended suit follows Sonoma County Judge Elliot Daum's ruling last year that county maps from 1877, presented by the plaintiffs, were insufficient proof of the city's legal right to the land's point of access — a 905-square-foot piece of land between Sonoma Mountain Road and the gate to Lafferty Ranch.

Since then, additional county deeds and easements have been discovered, as well as maps from 1866 and 1869 that show a county approved road that includes the Lafferty entrance and runs over the Pfendlers property.

Perry said the defendants' response to the amended complaint is essentially another legal challenge to the adequacy of the plaintiffs' complaint.

"Our position will be that they haven't cured those issues that caused the judge to grant our motion the first time," Perry said.

When asked about any progress made during mediation sessions, both Perry and City Attorney Eric Danly cited a confidentiality agreement guarding those discussions.

(Contact Allison Jarrell at allison.jarrell@ar guscourier.com)