Ridgeline Issue Ignores Rights of the Few
Regarding your recent editorial about protecting ridgelines in Laguna Niguel (“Ridgeline Protection an Urgent Concern,” Feb. 3), I am wondering what is so important about ridgelines? Are they any more important than valleys and bluff tops or meadows?
Some of the most prestigious neighborhoods in our state are developed on hillsides and ridgelines--Point Loma, La Jolla, Beverly Hills, Bel-Air and the Hope Ranch in Santa Barbara, to name a few.
The more important issue is the protection of the property rights of a minority. Your editorial pointed out that there were more than 4,000 signatures (what if there were more than 10,000?) on an initiative petition, thereby “expressing the depth of public sentiment” about this issue.
Just because the public has a concern does not mean that the public has the right to deny the rights of certain individuals.
CHARLES W. SMYTH, Irvine
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