How several long-dead defendants wound up in a lawsuit filed by developer Ken Mattson over a sliver of historic land in downtown Sonoma

A lawsuit requesting a minor property line adjustment isn’t the sort of legal action likely to draw attention. Unless the property is the iconic Sonoma Cheese Factory, the plaintiff is controversial real estate team KS Mattson Partners, and the defendants include the State of California — and what appears to be a handful of dead people.

“I got a 30-page summons six weeks ago,” said David Viviani, a lifelong Sonoma resident. “I ignored it for a while. Celso Viviani, my grandfather, passed away in 1955. It turns out they want to make sure I won’t contest their effort to take over that strip of land. Well, I never was an owner of the property.”

Celso Viviani is one of five individuals named in the civil suit, along with Amelia Walton, Lawrence F. and Jacqueline Viviani, and Tom G. Vella.

Amelia Walton, who owned the historic Toscano Hotel, died in the 1970s. Lawrence Viviani, son of Celso and father of David, died in 2009. His wife, Jacqueline, followed nine months later.

Tom G. Vella, his granddaughter Chickie Vella confirmed, is likely Gaetano “Tom” Vella, who founded Sonoma Valley Creamery at the site, along with Celso Viviani in 1931 and died in 1998. The family still owns Vella Cheese Company, another renowned local creamery.

The contested real estate is a thin wedge alongside the Sonoma Cheese Factory on East Spain Street, where it borders La Casa Grande Servants’ Quarters — part of the sprawling complex that surrounds Mission San Francisco Solano and is managed by the State Parks system. As described in the complaint, it’s “a sliver of land” that runs 157 feet along the east side of the Cheese Factory, with a width that grows from about 8¼ inches at the street to approximately 8 feet at the rear.

KS Mattson Partners is a business run by Ken Mattson, who along with partner Tim LeFever has purchased more than 60 local properties in and around Sonoma over the past seven years. That consolidation of real estate has alarmed and mystified local residents, some of whom recently organized to fight a proposed public-private partnership with Mattson in the unincorporated Springs area north of town.

But this lawsuit, filed Sept. 9 in Sonoma County Superior Court, represents a rare instance of Mattson openly courting conflict in Sonoma.

Mattson did not return messages sent through associates. Messages to Jeanne Grove, the Sonoma attorney representing KS Mattson Partners on behalf of the law firm Kaufman Dolowich & Voluck, also went unanswered.

A California State Parks representative declined to respond, saying the department does not comment on pending litigation.

KS Mattson Partners bought the Sonoma Cheese Factory from Maria Viviani, who was acting for Lawrence and Jacqueline’s family trust, in August 2020, for $1.875 million. Sometime after that, the new owners apparently realized the parcel line did not include a narrow space that for several years has been used for Cheese Factory patio service. The lawsuit calls it “an ownership gap.”

“The Unknown Parcel is not included in the deeds of the Mattson Property or of the State Property,” the document states.

To make that determination, KS Mattson Partners relied on “the expert opinion of surveyor Paul Brown,” an 1850 map of historic Sonoma Pueblo lands, a 1923 grant deed from Julius Fochetti to August and Theresa Mahlstedt, a separate 1950 grant to Amelia Walton and county assessor parcel maps.

Despite the “Unknown Parcel” not showing up on the current deeds, the suit alleges, KS Mattson Partners and previous owners have paid property taxes on the wedge for more than five years.

David Viviani, 75, doesn’t dispute any of that and doesn’t particularly care, since the property is no longer in his family. After ignoring the 30-page summons, he received a shorter notice from Kaufman Dolowich asking him to waive any rights to the Unknown Parcel.

The lawsuit is a “quiet title” action, which Cornell Law School defines as “a sort of lawsuit against anyone and everyone else who has a claim to the land. If the owner prevails in the quiet title action, no further challenges to the title can be brought.”

Viviani plans to sign it, he said, but is annoyed at the timeline.

“They wrote this letter on (December) 15th,” he said. “It was postmarked the 16th. I got it on the 18th. And they wanted an answer by the 19th. One day. I guess that’s a lawyer’s Christmas card.”

Viviani suspects his involvement in the civil suit is a mistake. His name is Celso David Viviani. But the documents delivered to his home in San Francisco were addressed to Celso Viviani, not Celso David.

The distinction means a lot to him. David was the first name of his maternal grandfather. He was originally supposed to be David Celso, he said, but Grandpa Celso objected. “Paga,” Grandpa David replied in Italian — “pay up.”

“So Celso went down to Bank of America and started an account for me with $300,” David Viviani said. “I’ve had an account with Bank of America my whole life.”

Viviani thinks KS Mattson Partners has been a bit sloppy in its stewardship of the Cheese Factory. In addition to confusion over the parties being sued, there’s the matter of Mattson’s title company failing to notice the property-deed gap when he bought it. Mostly, though, Viviani is amused by the whole affair.

“It’s almost laughable,” he said. “This property was built before they had laser pointers. Eight inches didn’t matter much in 1947.”

You can reach Phil Barber at 707-521-5263 or phil.barber@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @Skinny_Post.