SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO : Prickly Hill Dispute Stymied Once Again

The Battle of Porcupine Hill goes on.

Hope of ending the costly legal dispute over the hill, nicknamed for its 87 protruding date palms, were dashed Tuesday when the City Council walked out of a special closed-door meeting with no agreement.

“The bottom line is that we decided it was not appropriate to take any action until we seat a new council member,” said Mayor Kenneth E. Friess, alluding to the resignation of City Councilman Lawrence F. Buchheim, which is effective Sunday. A new council member will be appointed Tuesday.

For the past three years, the city and the property owner, Robert Maurer, have waged a paper war over Maurer’s right to build a 10,000-square-foot home at the crest of the picturesque, 42-acre hilltop site.

Through its attorneys, however, the council maintains that an ordinance prohibiting ridgeline development prevents any development on the hilltop.

That ordinance has never been tested in court, however.

A compromise offered Tuesday by Maurer, a successful developer, was “not specific enough,” Friess said.

He and other council members declined to detail the proposal, but the mayor added that the council will again up take the issue “when the new council member gets up to speed.”

Maurer said he was guaranteed the right to develop the hilltop 13 years ago, when he won city approval for a 62-unit development called Belford Terrace at the hill’s base. He has continually insisted that he is not fighting the ridgeline ordinance but that the project approval predates that law. He was not available for comment Tuesday.

Thus far, the battle between the city and Maurer has cost city taxpayers $671,712 in city attorney fees, according to David Bentz, the city’s financial officer.