Developer Killed in Crash Left Legacy of Controversy : Growth: Ezra Raiten was involved in disputes with environmentalists over plans to develop the 320-acre Paramount Ranch in the Santa Monica Mountains.

A Northridge developer killed in a plane crash in San Luis Obispo Monday was known in the San Fernando Valley for generating controversies as both a builder and a pilot.

In recent years Ezra Raiten, 38, and his companies were involved in disputes with environmentalists over his plans to develop the scenic Paramount Ranch in the Santa Monica Mountains and accusations that he had little regard for trees and a possibly historic structure on another property he was developing.

As a pilot he was cited last year for making illegal landings in his company’s helicopter, and the Federal Aviation Administration was seeking to revoke his pilot’s license on grounds that he had falsified his application by leaving out his convictions on criminal charges.

Raiten and three others, including his 17-year-old son, Amir Raiten, were killed early Monday when Raiten’s private jet crashed while attempting to land in heavy fog at San Luis Obispo Municipal Airport.

Gary Mucho, chief investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board’s office in Los Angeles, said Tuesday that the cause of the accident still was not known. The Cessna Citation crashed into eucalyptus trees in a field three miles northwest of the airport shortly after the pilot radioed the tower to say he was on a landing approach.

“They hit two large trees in heavy fog but we are still working on why,” Mucho said.

It was unknown whether Raiten or another victim, Ofer Shamir, 28, of San Luis Obispo was in control of the 12-seat jet when it crashed, Mucho said. Both men were certified pilots. The fourth victim was identified as Warren P. Callaghan, 18, of Northridge, a friend of Raiten’s son.

Raiten was head of Paramount Ranch Estates, owner of the 320-acre property in Agoura where the Renaissance Pleasure Faire formerly was held. His development company’s plans to build luxury houses on the parcel have been vigorously opposed by neighbors and environmentalists.

What impact, if any, Raiten’s death will have on the project was not known Tuesday.

After the County Board of Supervisors approved the 150-house development last year, opponents who contended that the project’s environmental review was inadequate sued the county. The suit, filed by the Sierra Club, the Las Virgenes Homeowners Federation and Friends of the Santa Monica Mountains, claimed that the county had been misled about the identity of the project’s owner and by a financial analysis of the project.

In July, a Superior Court judge ruled that the county acted legally in approving the project. Ann Carlson, the opponents’ attorney, said she has filed notice that she intends to appeal the decision.

Kenneth B. Bley, an attorney who represented Raiten in the suit, said Tuesday that he did not know whether the development would be built now that Raiten is dead.

In a matter unrelated to the Paramount controversy, Raiten was criticized earlier this year by City Councilwoman Joy Picus for improperly removing three large oak trees at a development in West Hills and bulldozing an old ranch house before the city could determine if it had historic value.

“This developer has a record of disregarding the law,” Picus said at the time.

Raiten also made news last year when he was cited by the Los Angeles Fire Department for landing a helicopter in his back yard without a city permit. Neighbors had complained that there had been several takeoffs and landings by the helicopter in the residential area in the 17000 block of Lassen Street.

After that incident, the Federal Aviation Administration learned that Raiten had falsified his application for a pilot’s license in July, 1988, by stating that he had no criminal record, FAA spokeswoman Elly Brekke said.

But according to court records, Raiten was convicted in 1983 of forgery and check fraud and served five months in Chino State Prison, and in 1986 pleaded guilty to vandalism after an incident in which he tried to run down his mother-in-law and her boyfriend with a car and then vandalized the boyfriend’s car. He was fined $1,000 and placed on three years probation.

Brekke said the FAA notified Raiten on Oct. 3, 1989, that the agency was seeking to revoke his license. Raiten appealed the FAA action and an NTSB hearing was scheduled for next month. Meantime, Raiten was legally allowed to fly.

Throughout the controversies that followed Raiten in recent years, the developer attempted to keep a low profile. Neighbors who were upset about the loss of trees at the West Hills development said Raiten refused to meet with them or return their phone calls.

The developer often declined to comment in newspaper stories about his projects. When The Times was preparing a story on his role in the Paramount purchase, Raiten told a reporter, “Write whatever you want.”

But some of those who knew him described him as an amiable man, intelligent and devoted to his family.

“I dealt with him very frequently, and he was a nice guy, intelligent,” Bley, the attorney, said. Referring to Raiten’s run-ins with the law, Bley said, “I read some of the things . . . that he used his car to run down his mother-in-law, but I didn’t see a guy like that.”