Sunny Acres' Dan De Vaul wearing ankle bracelet to avoid jail

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• Judge agrees to let Cal Poly students fix up Sunny Acres ranch

  Judge agrees to let Cal Poly students fix up Sunny Acres ranch

  The partnership between Cal Poly and San Luis Obispo rancher Dan De Vaul is official, and work by Cal Poly students to bring De Vaul’s Sunny Acres property up to code begins today.

  Judge Charles S. Crandall ruled Friday that the university will conduct some of the court-ordered upgrades on De Vaul’s 72-acre ranch.

  Cal Poly’s work as part of Professor Roya Javadpour’s PolyHouse program will entail fixing violations of the ranch’s unauthorized barns and cleaning up unsightly items.

• PolyHouse in running to help De Vaul

  PolyHouse in running to help De Vaul

  Cal Poly’s bid for the code compliance work on San Luis Obispo rancher Dan De Vaul’s Sunny Acres property could satisfy both sides in a contentious lawsuit, according to a local attorney helping to coordinate the potential partnership.

  On Friday, the university’s PolyHouse team will find out if it has received approval of its bid to complete required upgrades to De Vaul’s ranch from a San Luis Obispo Superior Court judge.

  Judge Charles S. Crandall appointed receiver David Pasternak to enforce compliance on the 72-acre property on Los Osos Valley Road, where De Vaul runs a homeless and sober living facility.

• Dan De Vaul's Sunny Acres will be overseen by a receiver, judge rules

  Dan De Vaul's Sunny Acres will be overseen by a receiver, judge rules

  A receiver has been appointed by Superior Court Judge Charles S. Crandall to oversee code compliance at the San Luis Obispo ranch owned by Dan De Vaul, who runs a sober-living facility on the property.

  Crandall issued his ruling Friday, sharply rebuking De Vaul’s contention that he has been trying to bring his facilities and living conditions up to code at the ranch called Sunny Acres. The order appoints David J. Pasternak as receiver and takes effect immediately.

  “Although Sunny Acres claims there is no longer any health and safety emergency, this argument is meritless,” Crandall wrote. “The best way to gauge the future is by examining past history. Given what has transpired so far, the court can reasonably expect that illegal human habitation will recur once the county inspections cease.”

• Sunny Acres receiver has list of jobs for contractor bidding

  Sunny Acres receiver has list of jobs for contractor bidding

  As part of a San Luis Obispo Superior Court’s order for a receiver to bring rancher Dan De Vaul’s property up to code, a work list has been drafted by a court-appointed receiver for open bidding, a process that could be completed by the next court hearing in April.

  But De Vaul, who operates a nonprofit sober and homeless living program, continues to protest that he’s being unfairly litigated and hopes to save his ranch from a potential sale.

  On a recent day at his ranch home, De Vaul kept one eye on the 1950s television show “Gunsmoke” with a 4-foot-tall goose nearby that he said “nips at inspectors’ heels.”

• Cal Poly students have a plan for Sunny Acres in SLO County

  Cal Poly students have a plan for Sunny Acres in SLO County

  A group of Cal Poly students is helping to bring Dan De Vaul’s Sunny Acres property up to code.

  Students in an engineering project management class set to work Tuesday cleaning up the sober living ranch on the outskirts of San Luis Obispo. The students also hope to get the funding and permits needed to bring several agricultural barns up to code during the quarter-long project that will last until mid-June, said Roya Javadpour, Cal Poly industrial and manufacturing engineering instructor.

  “We are focusing on turning the ranch into something that will be a source of pride for the community and a resource for those who need help,” she said. “We are taking it one step at a time.”