Coto de Caza Applying for Cityhood Amid Rancor

Coto de Caza, a gated enclave of 12,000 residents that boasts million-dollar estates and fancies its privacy in the rolling hills at the foot of the Santa Ana Mountains, has applied to become an Orange County city and is thumbing its nose at a neighboring community.

Leaders of the drive said the decision to seek incorporation was reached after talks with nearby Rancho Santa Margarita and other communities in the area to become a “supercity” broke down and tensions between Coto de Caza and Rancho Santa Margarita escalated.

“There were a lot of disingenuous statements made about Coto de Caza over the last couple of years with supercity talk,” said Ron Greek, one of several residents who represent Coto de Caza. The cityhood application “is a really strong declaration of Coto saying we do not want to be in Rancho Santa Margarita or even in their sphere of influence.”

Greek said the application by Coto de Caza is intended to send a strong message to both the Local Agency Formation Commission, known as LAFCO, which reviews incorporation requests, and Rancho Santa Margarita leaders that residents want to be totally separate and eliminate any chance of being annexed.

But Gary S. Thompson, a planning officer for the Navy and an 11-year resident of Rancho Santa Margarita, said that “at no time has any of the [Rancho Santa Margarita] leadership made any disparaging remarks about Coto de Caza.”

“That’s not to say some of the residents who live in the community have not mailed letters to the editors of newspapers expressing their opinions about Coto,” he said.

Thompson said the intercommunity squabble goes back to when Coto de Caza began the supercity talks after the county’s bankruptcy but did not invite Rancho Santa Margarita’s leadership.

“At first, we thought it was going to be a good relationship,” Thompson said. “But it didn’t end up that way. What grew out of that was Rancho being thought of as itself, and incorporating as itself.”

Rancho Santa Margarita, which has 22,500 residents, no gates and virtually no estates, applied to become a city in December. Coto de Caza leaders complained that they were not included in part of the application, which is under review by LAFCO.

Initially, 10 Saddleback Valley communities joined the push for a single city. The other communities involved were Foothill Ranch, Portola Hills, Trabuco Canyon, Robinson Ranch, Trabuco Highlands, Dove Canyon, Las Flores and Rancho Cielo.

“We had originally looked at the possibility of joining together with all the cities in the foothill area, but Rancho Santa Margarita was against having anything to do with their neighbors,” Greek said.

Peter Banning, a LAFCO consultant, said that although a supercity effort would have created a larger area of interest, once the communities actually sat down and discussed the single city concept, differences developed.

“The concept just didn’t hang together,” Banning said. “The interest level wasn’t the same. So, Rancho Santa Margarita decided to go on their own.”

For Coto de Caza to become a city, the review process may take a year or longer, officials said.

Communities that want to incorporate must have a petition signed by 25% of the area’s registered voters and conduct a preliminary study that includes boundaries.

“The primary requirement for incorporation is it’s got to be fiscally viable,” LAFCO spokesman Dan Schwarz said.

Greek said Coto de Caza residents want a greater voice on matters that affect the community and other issues such as the El Toro airport controversy.

And he said residents believe they are not getting enough services from the county in light of the millions of dollars they pay in property taxes.

“Coto residents already pay for their own streets and parks,” Greek said. “The advantage of becoming a city would be to have local control and help pay for police services.”