Council to Ask Court to Nullify Ordinance

The City Council has voted to ask the Orange County Superior Court to invalidate a proposed ridgeline protection ordinance because of fears that it could be unconstitutional.

The council voted 2 to 0, with two abstentions, to take the action after city attorneys warned that implementing the ordinance could violate individual property rights.

At a public hearing Thursday night, Councilmen Thomas W. Wilson and Larry A. Porter voted to ask the court to invalidate the proposed ordinance. Mayor Patricia C. Bates and Councilman James F. Krembas abstained because they own ridgeline property, while Councilman Paul M. Christiansen was absent.

A group of local citizens drafted the ordinance, which would prohibit development within 300 feet of city ridgelines. Proponents collected signatures of more than 4,000 registered voters in support of the ordinance and maintained that the council’s only options were to either pass it or put it on the ballot. The ordinance has bitterly divided the city and sparked a recall drive aimed at all five council members.

The city’s staff has said that the law could have a wide impact, possibly affecting more than 1,000 existing homes citywide. It could also open the door to lawsuits that would pose a serious financial threat to the 11-month-old city, said City Atty. Terry Dixon.

Ordinance proponents have repeatedly said that the initiative is intended only to protect large chunks of land on the city’s dwindling ridgelines.

On Friday, proponents declined to say whether they will take legal action against the council for refusing to act on the initiative. “We want to wait and see what happens in the future and leave it at that,” said Paul Willems, treasurer of the Ridgeline Protection and Preservation Committee.

Meanwhile, the Las Vegas hotel workers’ union that was involved in a bitter labor dispute with casino owner Jack B. Binion has denied that it cut a deal with him to withdraw its support for the residents trying to save the city’s dwindling ridgelines.

Binion’s attorney, William Holzwarth, said Thursday that the union had agreed to withdraw its support for a local group seeking to stop development on the ridgelines. Binion owns some ridgeline property in Laguna Niguel.