LAGUNA HILLS : Legal Battle Over Bridge Intensifies

The acrimonious legal battle over the current construction of the Cabot Road bridge to connect the cities of Laguna Hills and Mission Viejo has intensified.

The Mission Viejo Co. bought full-page advertisements last week in the Saddleback Valley News to announce to Laguna Hills taxpayers the legal costs their city is incurring to defend itself.

In large black letters printed across the page, the advertisement declares, “It is only your tax money, so who cares?” The ad alleges, among other things, that Laguna Hills has sunk $300,000 of taxpayer money into its legal defense against lawsuits filed early this year by the Mission Viejo Co., the city of Mission Viejo and Orange County.

Laguna Hills officials reacted angrily to the advertisement’s assertions, saying the costs were incurred to prevent the city’s rights from being trampled upon. The city has spent about $150,000 on legal fees so far, according to Councilwoman Melody Carruth.

“Although it is unfortunate, and it is very expensive for the city to defend itself,” said Don White, director of administrative services for Laguna Hills, “the city has decided that the (legal) cost pales in comparison to the negative impacts (of the bridge) on the city.”

The bridge is being built to connect Cabot Road in Laguna Hills to a future commercial center on a sliver of land just inside the Mission Viejo city limits. It is the only access point to the proposed site just north of Oso Parkway.

The lawsuits allege that Laguna Hills is not honoring development agreements between the county and the Mission Viejo Co. that predate Laguna Hills’ cityhood.

Laguna Hills’ position, according to White, is that the city has no voice in a development project that the city potentially could be liable for should increased traffic there lead to an accident.

Also, the city is concerned that if the Mission Viejo Co. refuses to mitigate any potential traffic impacts, Laguna Hills will have to foot the bill.

Consequently, Laguna Hills has asked that an additional study be done on potential traffic congestion in the vicinity of the access bridge.

The Mission Viejo Co., in a prepared statement given by Jo Schetter, associate director of corporate affairs, said, “The bridge project has been approved for years, and the traffic is already accounted for.”

White said the city considers the full-page advertisement to be a ploy by the Mission Viejo Co. to intimidate Laguna Hills.

“They are trying to make this expensive so that we will quit,” White said.

The Mission Viejo Co. says it spent $2,446 on the display advertisements. The Saddleback Valley News is a twice-weekly newspaper with a circulation of more than 50,000 in Laguna Hills, Mission Viejo and Lake Forest.

The reason for buying the advertisement, according to Schetter’s prepared statement, was that “we thought it important that citizens of Laguna Hills know what their city is paying in legal fees.”

Schetter added that legal fees incurred by the private Mission Viejo Co. are confidential information.

A trial date is set for April in Superior Court in Santa Ana.