Group Sues in Effort to Block Gating of Area Including Park

South County residents filed suit Tuesday seeking to bar the city of Laguna Niguel from gating a quiet hilltop community that includes a small public park.

The Laguna Niguel City Council in November voted to let the residents of El Niguel Heights privatize their community and install gates on Augusta Drive at Niguel Road and on Glen Abby Drive at Club House Drive.

Under the council’s decision, non-residents can visit Seminole Park through the Augusta Drive gate only during daylight. El Niguel residents say they want a gated community to keep out speeders, vandals and thieves.

A group of South County residents on Tuesday sought an injunction in Orange County Superior Court in opposition to the move, said attorney Andrew R. Henderson. Opponents say state law bars cities from gating public streets that offer access to public parks.

“We don’t think people should have to talk to a guard at a guard shack to use a public park,” Henderson said.

Councilman Thomas W. Wilson said he had not yet been notified of the lawsuit, but believes complaints are overblown. Wilson said he agreed to let the El Niguel Heights Homeowners Assn. gate off two dozen city streets in part because Seminole Park is small, not easily accessible, and has few attractions for outsiders.

“I didn’t feel this was depriving people,” Wilson said. “I don’t think most people drive out of their way to get to that park when there are so many others.”

Wilson stressed: “We’re not locking people out.”

The action asks a judge to force the city to undo the resolutions permitting the gated community, and bar the installation of the gates and a guardhouse while the case is pending. The action also asks the court to declare that the City Council’s actions were illegal.