’ . . . The majority of people who live here are in favor of it’ : Push Is On to Make Community ‘Gated’

James Barton was only blocks from his lakeside home in Mission Viejo recently when he was startled to see an Orange County sheriff’s deputy holding a shotgun to the back of a suspect who was leaning over a car.

“It made me realize that it can happen here,” said Barton, an insurance executive who lives with his family in the exclusive Andalusia neighborhood that borders the eastern shoreline of Lake Mission Viejo.

As a result of that disturbing scene, coupled with what he believes is a growing crime problem in Orange County, Barton said he and other residents of the 425-home development--on the lake’s eastern shore north of Alicia Parkway and west of Olympiad Road--want to transform their neighborhood into a gated community.

Richard V. Wells, owner of a local real estate services company, has been circulating flyers to persuade residents to back the proposal, break off from the Mission Viejo Environmental Assn., a citywide homeowners organization, and create the city’s ninth private community.

Erecting three electronic gates at the entrance to the neighborhood would make their residential streets safer from crime and reduce traffic congestion, some residents say. They also claim that putting gates around their neighborhood would cause property values to rise faster than those in surrounding neighborhoods.

“The feeling is that the majority of people who live here are in favor of it,” Barton said after local residents held a meeting on Saturday afternoon to discuss paying to have gates placed at Calle Azorin, Lanzarote and San Marcos.

“It seems that every community being built these days is gated,” Barton said. “It seems to be a good idea.”

But some residents who oppose the plan say that as good as it may sound, a gated community would mean more headaches than benefits.

The main objection, said resident Larry Gilbert, is that the proposed gated community would limit beach access to more than 15,000 families who belong to the Lake Mission Viejo Assn. but do not live in the neighborhood. Members of the lake association are guaranteed entry into the east beach, where they can rent boats, wade and use clubhouse services.

Although the plan calls for issuing gate security cards to all lake association members, Gilbert called the plan “snobbery.”

‘Truly Unbelievable’

Gilbert is also opposed to the plan because, he said, it would give residents a false sense of security and more than double the total fees they pay to maintain their neighborhood and remain members of the homeowners’ association.

“This is truly unbelievable,” said Gilbert, who also helped defeat a lake association effort over the summer to build a block wall between Alicia Parkway and the south end of Lake Mission Viejo. “These people (proponents of the gated community) have their heads in the sand if they think it’s going to make the neighborhood any safer.”

Gilbert said that for three months, Wells has been trying to force the issue on other residents of Andalusia, as well as the adjacent neighborhoods of San Marino and Madrid. Wells, whose company manages other gated communities, is also planning to pass out petitions to gauge community interest.

In a Sept. 27 letter to homeowners, Wells said that residents’ dues would be doubled to $100 a month if the gated community were formed. In addition, he wrote, there would be a one-time fee of $350 to each homeowner to install the three gates.

“Each one of us bought our (home) for different reasons,” Wells wrote, “but a common goal was to receive appreciation in value and to achieve status in life.”

But some residents believe that the proposed monthly association dues released by Wells are too conservative to run the private community effectively.

Not only would community members have to finance the gates and pay for guards, but also assume responsibility for tree trimming, street sweeping and other services now performed by city workers. In addition, homeowners would have to pay for street lighting, city officials said.

‘Low Security, High Nuisance’

“I am at a loss to see the need for spending more money to protect ourselves,” said resident George Howard, a retired engineer. “What it amounts to is low security and high nuisance.”

Gilbert said he believes that Well may be promoting the plan to eventually suggest that his real estate services company take over management duties.

Wells, when reached at his Lake Forest office, declined to comment on that accusation or any other aspect of his proposal. When asked why he was reluctant to discuss his gated community plan, he said, “It is not in the best interest of the homeowners.”

Wells and other proponents have already met with city officials briefly to discuss the possibility of erecting the gates. Alex Casillas, head of the city’s maintenance department, said that the homeowners were told to draft their plans and submit them to the Planning Department.

Saying he had “mixed feelings” about the gate proposal, Casillas said that residents would have to “petition the City Council” once they have submitted paper work.

William Schwartz, general manager of the Lake Mission Viejo Assn., said he has heard nothing about the plan and couldn’t comment directly on it.

“Nobody came to us about that,” he said. But speaking generally, he said, “I would think it would be difficult for us to say yes.”

Barton, who is on a five-member neighborhood committee studying the issue, confirmed that the group has not yet approached lake association officials.

“It is too early yet to talk to the association,” he said. “We haven’t heard the voice of the community.”