Drakes Bay Oyster Company: Tomales Bay Oyster Company Injunction Denied

[Update 9/23: As expected, Attorney Stuart Gross has filed an appeal.]

"I have wondered whether rule 11 [frivolous lawsuit] sanctions aren’t appropriate given the complete lack of merit of your claims." Judge Gonzales Rogers to Tomales Bay Oyster Company et al's attorney.

Sometimes the law is fuzzy.

Or at least that's what some

attorneys would like us to believe.

Stuart Gross, Attorney for Tomales Bay Oyster Company



A Gross interpretation of the law
A suit filed for Tomales Bay Oyster Company and other Drakes Bay Oyster Company supporters by San Francisco attorney Stuart Gross which asked for an injunction to allow DBOC to continue operations in the Phillip Burton Wilderness area has been denied. Judge Gonzales Rogers left little doubt of how the court viewed this last second attempt by DBOC supporters and their attorney to force the National Park Service to allow this commercial operation within a wilderness area to continue operating. It should not.

Oops. The impression was it's mine.

Sorry. It's not.



Surveys help bring the reality of what TBOC needs to deal with into focus

The Tomales Bay Oyster Company has far greater problems to deal with than where their oysters come from, whether they be Drakes Estero, Washington State, or their own tidelands. In a letter from the California Coastal Commission dated August 20, 2014, it was pointed out that a survey showed Tomales Bay Oyster Company's parking lot was not theirs but in fact was owned by the National Park Service. TBOC's owner indicated to the CCC that he was under the impression is was his. Unfortunately he was wrong.  

Let's see if these help bring some focus

to the problem TBOC needs to deal with.

Things do look a bit different don't they

Also appearing in the August 20, 2014 letter was the CCC pointing out that 80 acres of shellfish production is far larger than 3 acres originally permitted. In addition, restrooms, parking and retail facilities appear to be unpermitted. In fact, it appears that TBOC has been operating without authorization from the CCC for years now.

Deadlines are like leases - there is a fixed point in time to act by

Like DBOC, TBOC is now on notice that there is a fixed date in time which they need to act by. In CCC's August 20 letter, they have extended the deadline for information and action to October 1 of this year. How their attorney interprets that demand is open to speculation, but most likely another lawsuit will be filed, one of many in the ongoing saga of the Drakes Bay Oyster Company.