COTO DE CAZA : Amendment Clouds Helipad Controversy

A South County homeowners association has voted to prohibit its members from building helicopter pads on their properties, a move that may thwart plans for such a facility in their neighborhood.

The action--in the form of an amendment to the homeowners association rules--was recorded by the county late last week and revealed Monday, and it could effectively doom a helipad being requested by financier Jerry Dunton even before the Board of Supervisors votes on it today. Dunton has been trying for months to win approval for a private helipad on his eight-acre estate. The proposal has stirred considerable controversy among his Coto de Caza neighbors.

Some residents have rallied to Dunton’s side, but others have argued that the helicopter flights would be noisy and dangerous. They have asked the supervisors to overrule the County Planning Commission and reject Dunton’s proposed helipad.

The Los Ranchos Community Assn. has led the fight, and it played its trump card Monday.

“The CCRs (Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions) now expressly preclude this helicopter port,” said Kenneth S. Kasdan, the lawyer who represents the 75-member association. “This changes the whole dynamic of the hearing.”

Dunton was not available for comment, but his lawyer, John Bergen, called the amendment to the association rules “a very interesting move on (Kasdan’s) part.”

Bergen said he could not comment on the development in detail because he received the amendment late Monday afternoon. It also took county officials off guard, and they raced to complete a legal review of it in time for today’s hearing before the Board of Supervisors.

“We could probably generate heat with the minds that are being devoted to this question,” said Kenneth H. Bruner, an aide to Supervisor Thomas F. Riley, whose district includes Coto de Caza. “The overriding perspective that we need to consider is what’s best for the County of Orange.”

Kasdan and other opponents of the proposed helipad have waged an intense lobbying effort during the past several months, and it has peaked as the proposal has drawn closer to a board vote. Both sides have said they will appear at the meeting today to press their case.

As of late Monday, however, the outcome was still very much in doubt.

Thomas B. Mathews, the county planning director, said he will recommend that the supervisors approve the helipad. And though he conceded that the association amendment may complicate the matter, Mathews recommended that the supervisors steer clear of that dispute.

“That’s a knotty issue,” he said. “But the county is not a party to that.”

Hal Causey, president of the homeowners association, said he hopes that supervisors will take note of the amendment and reject the heliport. “Our effort is to put this to an end and return to our normal, quiet, rural life,” he said.