History: 1994-2005 - Changing Hands & the Buffer Properties
Little activity 1974 to 1994...
As mentioned on the previous page, according to municipal documents, there are no cases associated with the Jefferson Drill site for two decades. Activity restarts in April of 1994. The first is an application for re-drilling J-17 in urban drilling district 104. The second is amendments to the original ZA-17528 methods and conditions for the drill site's terms of operation.
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Change of hands & the Buffer Properties, 1999
On November 3, 1998, Union Oil Company (or Unocal) sells the Jefferson Drill site to Nuevo Energy. Nuevo Energy only owns the site for a little over a year before selling it to Southern Assets, LLC on December 20, 1999. But something important happened in that year.
In the original mother case, ZA-17528-1965, one of the terms of conditional use for the drill site was:
4. That as long as the subject site is utilized for oil drilling and production purposes, Lots 11 and 20, Block G, Poole and Jones Tract, adjoining the northerly side of the site shall be retained in common partnership with the site and the existing dwellings on said lots or suitable replacements thereof conforming to zoning regulations shall be retained to serve as a barrier between the site and the adjacent lots to the north... |
On December 3, 1999, Nuevo Energy Company acquired permission from the city to sell these properties.
The intent of the original Condition No. 4 was principally to provide said buffer so long as the oil drilling operations were being conducted on the approved oil drilling site... The intent of this condition will be served no matter the ownership of the property... The intent is to renovate the existing structures with the further possible intent of using the properties for student housing associated with the nearby University of Southern California campus. The primary change will be ownership of the property, not the function of the property as a buffer for the adjacent drill site. |
The properties have since sold many times; first in tandem, then separately.
When Nuevo Energy sold Lots 11 and 20 they recorded in the deed the following requirement:
“Buyer shall acknowledge and agree that the operations of Seller or its successors or assigns may emit noxious odors and fumes, and may cause vibration, loud and continuous noise, safety hazards, unsightliness and/or extensive truck traffic. None of the foregoing matters, or any other operations of Seller or its successors or assigns on and in the Jefferson Street Drill site, shall constitute any nuisance to or for Buyer or its successors, assigns or tenants.”
budlong-van-buren_deed_1998.pdf | |
File Size: | 114 kb |
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More Operator Changes, 1999-2005
Ownership of the Jefferson Drill Site changes a few more times.
At some point between the sale of the site from Nuevo Energy to Southern Assets, LLC in 1999 to 2005, the property is jointly owned by Bentley-Simonson, Inc (BSI) and Plains Exploration and Production Company. On April 4, 2005, BSI and Plains Exploration and Production Co. sells the property to Brown PXP Properties. |