His company, Blueskin Projects Ltd, wanted to build houses on Potato Point, near Purakaunui, and applied to the Dunedin City Council for resource consent for a four-lot development on 73.9ha of land.
The city council declined the consent after a hearing in 2005 and Blueskin Projects appealed the decision to the Environment Court with a new proposal for two houses on one lot on Potato Point.
In September last year, the Environment Court confirmed the council decision and declined the appeal, and an appeal to the High Court was lost in January this year.
Mr Richardson said this week he was not surprised by the costs decision, which were a "fraction" of what he had spent on the process.
He had no more plans to subdivide the property.
The Environment Court judgement on costs, from Judge Jeff Smith, awarded $30,000 to the Dunedin City Council and $20,000 to the Purakaunui Environment Group that opposed the plan.
The judgement said the group had spent $71,000.
It received funding from the Government's environmental assistance fund and a successful outcome to the costs application meant that would be refunded.
Group chairman Chas Tanner said it was too early to know if the organisation had been left out of pocket, but it would have struggled without the financial contributions of supporters.
