XML 30 R19.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT
v3.19.1

Commitments and Contingencies | 3 Months Ended
--- | ---
Mar. 31, 2019
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] |
Commitments and Contingencies | COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES The Company's land is subject to water contracts with minimum annual payments, for which $10,156,000 is expected to be paid in 2019. So far in 2019, the Company has paid $7,038,000 for its water contracts. These estimated water contract payments consist of SWP, contracts with Wheeler Ridge Maricopa Water Storage District, TCWD, Tulare Lake Basin Water Storage District, Dudley-Ridge Water Storage District and the Nickel water contract. The SWP contracts run through 2035 and the Nickel water contract runs through 2044, with an option to extend an additional 35 years. As discussed in Note 5 (Long-Term Water Assets), we purchased the assignment of a contract to purchase water in late 2013. The assigned water contract is with Nickel and obligates us to purchase 6,693 acre-feet of water annually through the term of the contract. Our contractual obligation for future water payments was $253,040,000 as of March 31, 2019. The Company is obligated to make payments of approximately $800,000 per year through 2021 to the Tejon Ranch Conservancy as prescribed in the Conservation Agreement we entered into with five major environmental organizations in 2008. Our advances to the Tejon Ranch Conservancy are dependent on the occurrence of certain events and their timing and are therefore subject to change in amount and period. These amounts paid will be capitalized in real estate development for the Centennial, Grapevine and Mountain Village, or MV, projects. The Company exited a consulting contract during the second quarter of 2014 related to the Grapevine Development and is obligated to pay an earned incentive fee at the time of successful receipt of litigated project entitlements and at a value measurement date five-years after litigated entitlements have been achieved for Grapevine. The final amount of the incentive fees will not be finalized until the future payment dates. The Company believes that net savings from exiting the contract over this future time period will more than offset the incentive payment costs. The Tejon Ranch Public Facilities Financing Authority, or TRPFFA, is a joint powers authority formed by Kern County and TCWD to finance public infrastructure within the Company’s Kern County developments. For the development of the Tejon Ranch Commerce Center, or TRCC, TRPFFA has created two Community Facilities Districts, or CFDs: the West CFD and the East CFD. The West CFD has placed liens on 420 acres of the Company’s land to secure payment of special taxes related to $28,620,000 of bond debt sold by TRPFFA for TRCC-West. The East CFD has placed liens on 1,931 acres of the Company’s land to secure payments of special taxes related to $55,000,000 of bond debt sold by TRPFFA for TRCC-East. At TRCC-West, the West CFD has no additional bond debt approved for issuance. At TRCC-East, the East CFD has approximately $65,000,000 of additional bond debt authorized by TRPFFA that can be sold in the future. In connection with the sale of bonds, there is a standby letter of credit for $4,468,000 related to the issuance of East CFD bonds. The standby letter of credit is in place to provide additional credit enhancement and cover approximately two years' worth of interest on the outstanding bonds. This letter of credit will not be drawn upon unless the Company, as the largest landowner in the CFD, fails to make its property tax payments. The Company believes that the letter of credit will never be drawn upon. The letter of credit is for two years and will be renewed in two-year intervals as necessary. The annual cost related to the letter of credit is approximately $68,000. The Company is obligated, as a landowner in each CFD, to pay its share of the special taxes assessed each year. The secured lands include both the TRCC-West and TRCC-East developments. Proceeds from the sale of West CFD bonds went to reimburse the Company for public infrastructure costs related to the TRCC-West development. At March 31, 2019 there were no additional improvement funds remaining from the West CFD bonds. There are $4,180,000 in improvement funds within the East CFD bonds for reimbursement of public infrastructure costs during 2019 and future years. During 2019 the Company expects to pay approximately $2,570,000 in special taxes. As development continues to occur at TRCC, new owners of land and new lease tenants, through triple net leases, will bear an increasing portion of the assessed special tax. This amount could change in the future based on the amount of bonds outstanding and the amount of taxes paid by others. The assessment of each individual property sold or leased is not determinable at this time because it is based on the current tax rate and the assessed value of the property at the time of sale or on its assessed value at the time it is leased to a third-party. Accordingly, the Company is not required to recognize an obligation at March 31, 2019. Tehachapi Uplands Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan Litigation In July 2014, the Company received a copy of a Notice of Intent to Sue, dated July 17, 2014 indicating that the Center for Biological Diversity, or CBD, the Wishtoyo Foundation and Dee Dominguez (collectively the TUMSHCP Plaintiffs) intended to initiate a lawsuit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, or USFWS, challenging USFWS's approval of the Company's Tehachapi Uplands Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan, or TMSHCP, and USFWS's issuance of an Incidental Take Permit, or ITP, for the take of federally listed species. The TUMSHCP approval and ITP issuance by the USFWS occurred in 2013. These approvals authorize, among other things, the removal of California condor habitat associated with the Company's potential future development of MV. On April 25, 2019, the TUMSHCP Plaintiffs filed suit against the USFWS in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, in Los Angeles (Case No. 2:19-CV-3322), or TUMSHCP Suit. The Company is presently not named as a party in the TUMSHCP Suit. The TUMSHCP Suit seeks to invalidate the TUMSHCP as it pertains to the protection of the California condor (an endangered species), as well as the ITP. The primary allegations in the TUMSHCP Suit are that California condors or their habitat are “Traditional Cultural Properties” within the meaning of the National Historic Preservation Act and that the USFWS failed to adequately consult with affected Native American tribes or their representatives with respect to the impact of the TUMSHCP and ITP on these “Traditional Cultural Properties.” Management considers the allegations in the TUMSHCP Suit to be beyond the scope of the law and regulations referenced in the TUMSHCP Suit, and believes that the issues raised by the TUMSHCP Plaintiffs were adequately addressed by the USFWS during the consultation process with Native American tribes. The Company intends to coordinate closely with the USFWS to vigorously defend this matter. The TUMSHCP Plaintiffs raised essentially the same arguments regarding the Native American consultation process and the California condor in state court litigation. In that litigation, the California Court of Appeal rejected the TUMSHCP Plaintiffs’ arguments as lacking merit. See Center for Biological Diversity, et al.v. Kern County, 2012 WL 1417682 (Case No. F061908). That state appellate court decision was issued on April 25, 2012. The Company believes the TUMSHCP Suit does not impede on the ability to start or complete the development of MV development. National Cement The Company leases land to National Cement Company of California Inc., or National, for the purpose of manufacturing Portland cement from limestone deposits on the leased acreage. The California Regional Water Quality Control Board, or RWQCB, for the Lahontan Region issued orders in the late 1990s with respect to environmental conditions on the property currently leased to National. The Company's former tenant Lafarge Corporation, or Lafarge, and current tenant National, continue to remediate these environmental conditions consistent with the RWQCB orders. The Company is not aware of any failure by Lafarge or National to comply with directives of the RWQCB. Under current and prior leases, National and Lafarge are obligated to indemnify the Company for costs and liabilities arising out of their use of the leased premises. The remediation of environmental conditions is included within the scope of the National or Lafarge indemnity obligations. If the Company were required to remediate the environmental conditions at its own cost, it is unlikely that the amount of any such expenditure by the Company would be material and there is no reasonable likelihood of continuing risk from this matter. Antelope Valley Groundwater Cases On November 29, 2004, a conglomerate of public water suppliers filed a cross-complaint in the Los Angeles Superior Court seeking a judicial determination of the rights to groundwater within the Antelope Valley basin, including the groundwater underlying the Company’s land near the Centennial project. Four phases of a multi-phase trial have been completed. Upon completion of the third phase, the court ruled that the groundwater basin was in overdraft and established a current total sustainable yield. The fourth phase of trial occurred in the first half of 2013 and resulted in confirmation of each party’s groundwater pumping for 2011 and 2012. The fifth phase of the trial commenced in February 2014, and concerned 1) whether the United States has a federal reserved water right to basin groundwater, and 2) the rights to return flows from imported water. The court heard evidence on the federal reserved right but continued the trial on the return flow issues while most of the parties to the adjudication discussed a settlement, including rights to return flows. In February 2015, more than 140 parties representing more than 99% of the current water use within the adjudication boundary agreed to a settlement. On March 4, 2015, the settling parties, including Tejon, submitted a Stipulation for Entry of Judgment and Physical Solution to the court for approval. On December 23, 2015, the court entered judgment approving the Stipulation for Entry of Judgment and Physical Solution, or Judgment. The Company’s water supply plan for the Centennial project anticipated reliance on, among other sources, a certain quantity of groundwater underlying the Company’s lands in the Antelope Valley. The Company’s allocation in the Judgment is consistent with that amount. Prior to the Judgment becoming final, on February 19 and 22, 2016, several parties, including the Willis Class and Phelan Pinon Hills Community Services District, filed notices of appeal from the Judgment. The Appeal has been transferred from the Fourth Appellate District to the Fifth Appellate District. Appellate briefing is scheduled to occur in 2019. Notwithstanding the appeals, the parties, with assistance from the Court have established the Watermaster Board, hired the Watermaster Engineer and Watermaster Legal Counsel, and begun administering the Physical Solution, consistent with the Judgment. Summary and Status of Kern Water Bank Lawsuits On June 3, 2010, the Central Delta and South Delta Water Agencies and several environmental groups, including CBD, or collectively, Central Delta Petitioners, filed a complaint in the Sacramento County Superior Court against the California Department of Water Resources, or DWR, Kern County Water Agency, or KCWA, and a number of “real parties in interest,” including the Company and TCWD, or Central Delta Action. The lawsuit challenges certain amendments to the SWP contracts that were originally approved in 1995, known as the Monterey Amendments. The Central Delta Petitioners sought to invalidate the DWR's approval of the Monterey Amendments and also the 2010 environmental impact report, or 2010 EIR, regarding the Monterey Amendments prepared pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA, pertaining to the Kern Water Bank, or KWB. Pursuant to the Monterey Amendments, DWR transferred approximately 20,000 acres in Kern County owned by DWR, or KWB property, to the KCWA. A separate but parallel lawsuit, or Central Delta II, was also filed by the Central Delta Petitioners in Kern County Superior Court on July 2, 2010, against KCWA, also naming the Company and TCWD as real parties in interest. Central Delta II challenged the validity of the transfer of the KWB property from the KCWA to the Kern Water Bank Authority, or KWBA. The petitioners in this case alleged that (i) the transfer of the KWB property by KCWA to the KWBA was an unconstitutional gift of public funds, (ii) and the consideration for the transfer of the KWB property to the KWBA was unconscionable and illusory. This case has been stayed pending the outcome of the Central Delta Action. In addition, another lawsuit was filed in Kern County Superior Court on June 3, 2010, by two districts adjacent to the KWB, namely Rosedale Rio Bravo and Buena Vista Water Storage Districts, or collectively, the Rosedale Petitioners, asserting that the 2010 EIR did not adequately evaluate potential impacts arising from operations of the KWB, or Rosedale Action, but this lawsuit did not name the Company; it only named TCWD. TCWD has a contract right for water stored in the KWB and rights to recharge and withdraw water. This lawsuit was moved to the Sacramento County Superior Court. In the Central Delta Action and Rosedale Action, the trial courts concluded that the 2010 EIR for the Monterey Amendments was insufficient with regard to the EIR's evaluation of the potential impacts of the operation of the KWB, particularly on groundwater and water quality, and ruled that DWR was required to prepare a remedial EIR (which is further described below). In the Central Delta Action, the trial court also concluded that the challenges to DWR’s 1995 approval of the Monterey Amendments were barred by statutes of limitations and laches. The Central Delta Petitioners filed an appeal of the Sacramento County Superior Court Judgment, and certain real parties filed a cross-appeal. No party appealed the Kern County Superior Court Judgment in the Rosedale Action. O n November 24, 2014, the Sacramento County Superior Court in the Central Delta Action issued a writ of mandate, or 2014 Writ, that required DWR to prepare a revised EIR (described herein as the 2016 EIR because it was certified in 2016) regarding the Monterey Amendments evaluating the potential operational impacts of the KWB. The 2014 Writ, as revised by the court, required DWR to certify the 2016 EIR and file the response to the 2014 Writ by September 28, 2016. On September 20, 2016, the Director of DWR (a) certified the 2016 EIR prepared by DWR, as in compliance with CEQA, (b) adopted findings, a statement of overriding considerations, and a mitigation, monitoring and reporting program as required by CEQA, (c) made a new finding pertaining to carrying out the Monterey Amendments through continued use and operation of the KWB by the KWBA, and (d) caused a notice of determination to be filed with the Office of Planning and Resources of the State of California on September 22, 2016. On September 28, 2016, DWR filed with the Sacramento Superior Court its return to the 2014 Writ in the Central Delta Action. On October 21, 2016, the Central Delta Petitioners and a new party, the Center for Food Safety, or CFS, or collectively, the CFS Petitioners, filed a new lawsuit in Sacramento County Superior Court, or CFS Action, against DWR and naming a number of real parties in interest, including KWBA and TCWD (but not including the Company). The CFS Action challenges DWR’s (i) certification of the 2016 EIR, (ii) compliance with the 2014 Writ and CEQA, and (iii) finding concerning the continued use and operation of the KWB by KWBA. On August 18, 2017, the Sacramento County Superior Court held a hearing on the response to the 2014 Writ and on the CFS petition filed in this action. On October 2, 2017, the Sacramento County Superior Court issued a ruling that the court shall deny the CFS petition and shall discharge the 2014 Writ. The CFS Petitioners appealed the Sacramento County Superior Court judgment denying the CFS petition. The Third Appellate District of the Court of Appeal granted DWR’s motion to consolidate the CFS Action appeal for hearing with the pending appeals in the Central Delta Action. Briefing on all of the appeals and cross-appeals is now complete. At this time, we anticipate having a ruling from the Court of Appeal on these consolidated appeals of the CFS Action and the Central Delta Action sometime in 2019 or 2020. Grapevine On December 6, 2016, the Kern County Board of Supervisors unanimously granted entitlement approval for the Grapevine project (described below). On January 5, 2017, the CBD, and the CFS, filed an action in Kern County Superior Court pursuant to CEQA, against Kern County and the Kern County Board of Supervisors, or collectively, the County, concerning the County’s granting of the 2016 approvals for the Grapevine project, including certification of the final EIR. The Company is named as real parties in interest in this action. The action alleges that the County failed to properly follow the procedures and requirements of CEQA, including failure to identify, analyze and mitigate impacts to air quality, greenhouse gas emissions, biological resources, traffic, water supply and hydrology, growth inducing impacts, failure to adequately consider project alternatives and to provide support for the County’s findings and statement of overriding considerations in adopting the EIR and failure to adequately describe the environmental setting and project description. Petitioners sought to invalidate the County’s approval of the project, the environmental approvals and require the Company and the County to revise the environmental documentation. On July 27, 2018, the court held a hearing on the petitioners’ claims. At that hearing, the court rejected all of petitioners’ claims raised in the litigation, except petitioners’ claims that (i) the project description was inadequate and (ii) such inadequacy resulted in aspects of certain environmental impacts being improperly analyzed. As to the claims described in “(i)” and “(ii)” in the foregoing sentence, the court determined that the EIR was inadequate. In that regard, the court determined the Grapevine project description contained in the EIR allowed development to occur in the time and manner determined by the real parties in interest and, as a consequence, such development flexibility could result in the project’s internal capture rate, or ICR - the percent of vehicle trips remaining within the project - actually being lower than the projected ICR levels used in the EIR and that lower ICR levels warranted supplemental traffic, air quality, greenhouse gas emissions, noise, public health and growth inducing impact analyses. On December 11, 2018, the court ruled that portions of the EIR required corrections and supplemental environmental analysis and ordered that the County rescind the Grapevine project approvals until such supplemental environmental analysis was completed. The court issued a final judgment consistent with its ruling on February 15, 2019 and, on March 12, 2019, the County rescinded the Grapevine project approvals. Following the County’s rescission of the Grapevine project approvals, the Company has filed new applications to re-entitle the Grapevine project, or re-entitlement. The re-entitlement application involves processing project approvals that are substantively similar to the Grapevine project that was unanimously approved by the Kern County Board of Supervisors in December of 2016. As part of the re-entitlement, supplemental environmental analysis will be prepared to address the court’s ruling. Following a public comment and review period, the Kern County Planning Commission will hold a hearing to make a recommendation to the Kern County Board of Supervisors on the re-entitlement of the Grapevine project. Thereafter, the Kern County Board of Supervisors will hold a hearing to consider the supplemental environmental analysis and whether to act to approve the re-entitlement of the Grapevine project. We anticipate possible Kern County Board of Supervisors action occurring in late 2019. Following the Board of Supervisors’ action, further litigation could challenge the re-entitlement. Proceedings Incidental to Business From time to time, we are involved in other proceedings incidental to our business, including actions relating to employee claims, real estate disputes, contractor disputes and grievance hearings before labor regulatory agencies. The outcome of these other proceedings is not predictable. However, based on current circumstances, we do not believe that the ultimate resolution of these other proceedings will have a material adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations or cash flows either individually or in the aggregate.

X
- References No definition available. + Details
Name: | us-gaap_CommitmentsAndContingenciesDisclosureAbstract
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition The entire disclosure for commitments and contingencies. + References Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 450 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/topic&trid=2127136 Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 440 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/topic&trid=2144648 + Details
Name: | us-gaap_CommitmentsAndContingenciesDisclosureTextBlock
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | nonnum:textBlockItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration