COTO DE CAZA : Developer Abruptly Closes Shooting Club

A 22-year-old recreational shooting club, one of the few remaining in Southern California, was abruptly closed this week when the developer of Coto de Caza placed a 6-foot-high chain-link fence around it and posted security guards to keep members out.

William Radovich, president of the Coto Valley Country Club, which owns the Hunt Club, said Friday that he was surprised and angered by the actions of Coto de Caza Ltd., a joint venture of the Chevron Land Corp. and Arvida/JMB and developer of the 5,200-acre community in the South Orange County foothills.

Radovich said the fence was erected between 10:30 p.m. Tuesday and 7 a.m. Wednesday around an area of about 5 acres that encompasses the Hunt Club lodge and shooting ranges.

Coto de Caza officials Friday did not return calls seeking comment on Radovich’s complaints.

Radovich said the club is willing to move from its present site, for which there are plans to build housing and a golf course. He said Coto De Caza Ltd. had sent the club a letter saying that it wanted to close the facility on Aug. 1.

But Radovich said he had not expected the development company to do anything so soon because the company and gun club seemed to be nearing a settlement of litigation pending between them.

Radovich said he is still hopeful that the parties will sign a proposed agreement that he said calls for Coto de Caza Ltd. to provide a temporary shooting area for the club until a permanent site can be found that fits Orange County Planning Commission criteria.

Radovich said his club will not file a protest against the fencing off of the club’s longtime home as long as he believes that a resolution of the larger issue is imminent.

“We are not wedded to that site,” he said. “We just want someplace to shoot.”