Olen Commercial Realty Corp. v. County of Orange

Plaintiffs and appellants Olen Commercial Realty Corp. and Olen Commercial Realty Encumbrance I. Corp. (collectively Olen) appeal from an adverse judgment on its action for refund of property taxes and request for declaratory relief against defendant and respondent County of Orange (County). We affirm the judgment. On July 22, 2004, Olen filed a motion to augment the record with the following designated documents previously filed in the superior court: “1. Appellant’s Opening Trial Brief and exhibits thereto (Item 3), filed on September 5, 2003; [¶] 2. Respondent’s Response Brief (Item 8), filed on September 19, 2003; [¶] 3. Appellant’s Reply Brief (Item 10), filed on October 1, 2003; and [¶] 4. Declaration of Thomas Pike (Item 11), filed on October 1, 2003.” For reasons discussed below, we grant the motion to augment with respect to documents numbered 1, 2, and 3, and deny the motion with respect to document number 4.

I

FACTS

Olen began construction on a commercial real estate project in Brea, California in 1997. The project consisted of two 5-story buildings and a parking garage located at 40, 50, and 60 North Pointe Drive in the City of Brea, Orange County,…