Copyright 1998 Times Mirror Company Los Angeles
Times
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December 14, 1998, Monday, Orange County
Edition
SECTION: Metro; Part B; Page 1; Metro Desk
LENGTH: 1428 words
HEADLINE:
PUBLIC SCHOOL PLAN RATTLES COTO DE CAZA RESIDENTS;
EDUCATION: PROPOSAL FOR A CAMPUS IN THE GATED COMMUNITY
RAISES ISSUES OF ACCESS AND IS CRITICIZED AS MIXING DISTRICT NEEDS, PRIVATE
INTERESTS.
BYLINE: LIZ SEYMOUR and TINA NGUYEN and LINN
GROVES, SPECIAL TO THE TIMES
BODY: The outside world could come charging
through the security gates of Coto de Caza in the shape of 20 modular classrooms
for a new public school that could open as early as next year.
But the preliminary plans to install the newest campus in the Capistrano
Unified School District have drawn attacks both from residents,
who say it would undermine the privacy and security of the private foothill
enclave, and outsiders who say putting a public school there
could be downright illegal.
If approved, the 400-student campus could be
the first public school statewide to be built in a
gated community.
"I'm flabbergasted," said
Edward Blakely, a USC professor of urban planning who co-wrote a book on
gated communities. "This would violate civil rights and
constitutional provisions."
The school proposal is
dividing residents in this area east of Mission Viejo. Some parents helped
broker the land deal to get the campus. Other residents predict a public
school would allow almost anybody into the community, and if
ultimately found unlawful, could eventually force removal of the gates.
"No one can guarantee us that someone couldn't sue and the gates
won't come down," said Karen Rose, a nine-year Coto resident. "This is
a huge, huge issue, and nobody did their homework."
The issue drew
at least 100 people to a homeowners association meeting last week. The debate
will culminate in a March 3 community-wide vote to decide if the
school project goes forward.
In a letter opposing the
school project sent to other Coto dwellers, Bob and Le Ann
Ricks wrote: "The fact is, there is no legal precedent for this matter. . .
. What if a court orders that the gates be taken down? What then will
distinguish Coto de Caza from any of the surrounding areas?" As of Friday,
three people said they want the school built and 106 don't, the
letter says. Another 120 residents support the March vote, but are undecided on
the issue.
Homeowners on both sides of the debate, as well as
school officials, will spend the next three months discussing
the heart of the conflict: Is a public school equally
accessible to all taxpayers if it is fenced in by security gates? Is it really,
well, public?
"Americans are blurring the lines between private and
public," said Andrew Stark, an associate professor of strategic management
at the University of Toronto, who has written extensively on gated communities.
"This seems to me to be a bold attempt at the local level to try to
cross the line between public and private rights," Stark said.
Similar concerns have been raised elsewhere in California, considered
the hub of walled neighborhoods.
* Hidden Hills, an incorporated, gated
city in the western San Fernando Valley, moved its City Hall just outside its
gates to allow free access to the building and, of course, to keep nonresidents
at bay.
* Fences surrounding the Whitley Heights area in Hollywood were
torn down in 1994 after a Superior Court judge ruled that the gates barricaded
public streets and violated state vehicle codes. That decision stated that a
city cannot place devices that "deny or restrict the access of certain
members of the public, while permitting others unrestricted access."
* In the Silver Creek Country Club near San Jose, a public elementary
school was built just outside the gates to avoid any legal
challenges. The local developer, Shea Homes, donated land to the San Jose
Unified School District for the campus.
"We didn't
even consider building a public school in our community,"
said Joanne Anderson, the vice president of sales and marketing for Shea Homes.
"That wouldn't be right."
Capistrano Unified officials contend
that the Coto project, which would enroll mostly children who live in the gated
community, is legal.
"You can't have a public
school becoming a part of a community exclusively for the use
of a few people," Supt. James A. Fleming said. He said the district's lease
allows any member of the public who wants access to the school
to simply tell the gate guards he or she is headed to the campus.
But
the proposed lease permits access only to the school
community--students, parents, school district employees and
elected officials--during school hours, according to a draft
obtained by The Times.
Fleming said the district's legal counsel has
assured him that the wording would allow anyone with business at the
school to get in.
About 35,000 guest passes per month
are distributed to non-Coto residents to drive past the gates of this community
of 10,000 residents. Besides construction workers, maids and gardeners, visitors
to Coto's restaurant and two golf courses use the passes.
Parents of
students who attend the private elementary campus in Coto, Merryhill
School, have the same access cards that are distributed to
residents. And anyone wanting to visit the fire station is guaranteed
admittance, no questions asked; its meeting room is rented out to nonresidents
on a regular basis.
Coto children attend Wagon Wheel Elementary
School, which opened in September 1997 with at least 100 more
children than planned. The school is just outside the gates.
This year, 24 portable classrooms sit on the 13-acre site; there are two more
temporary classrooms than permanent ones, said Nancy Lamperis, the
school's office manager. Enrollment now surpasses 1,000
students.
"We are just asking for a desk, a teacher and a
school for every child--things we took for granted as
children," said Jill Harmon, whose 7-year-old daughter attends Wagon Wheel.
Her daughter's class had no permanent room last year, so the children sat on the
floor some mornings until school administrators found space for
them in another classroom.
Harmon and a group of parents soon began
meeting to discuss ways to ease the overcrowding. They talked to
school officials, board members of the Coto homeowners
association, the CZ Master Assn. and Lennar Homes, a Mission Viejo firm that has
development rights on the last 1,000 acres in Coto.
They finalized a
deal in May: The homeowners association swapped 2 1/2 acres set aside for open
space on Coto de Caza and Vista del Verde drives with an eight-acre parcel owned
by Lennar Homes.
The association then planned to lease the property to
the school district for $ 1 a year for 20 years, with two
five-year renewals. The lease has not been signed yet because of the
controversy. Lennar Homes also would spend an estimated $ 500,000 on parking and
ball fields at the school site. If the school
is not built, the homeowners association keeps the property but the developer
will not increase parking or build athletic fields.
Made up entirely of
relocatable classrooms, the school, known as the Primary
Learning Center, would enroll children in kindergarten through the second or
third grade. It would cost an estimated $ 2.5 million to buy and install 20
portable buildings, including a cafeteria, library and computer center, and
administration office. After 20 years, school administrators
predict, the explosive enrollment growth should finally be declining.
Foes of the project said they fear the school threatens
the guardhouses and gates that allow them to roam the 5,000-acre community
without qualms.
"This is a private community, and people are
concerned about the gates," homeowner Vicki Bush said. "We ought to
keep public things public and private things private. There is a place for
schools and there is a place for communities, and let's keep
them separate."
School backers said the facility
would be relocated immediately if there were ever any threat that the gates
would come down.
"This was literally the last open space for a
school," said John Zarian, the association president and a
parent of three. "We have to do something about the school
crisis."
Fleming said the proposed school doesn't
leapfrog any other school construction projects in the
district. If Coto de Caza residents reject the proposal, the portables intended
for the Primary Learning Center would be added to the 24 already installed at
Wagon Wheel. Because the land is being leased for $ 1 a year, there are no extra
costs to the district, he said.
But the Coto site is appealing to
school officials in several ways: The land is available and
affordable, the school could be built quickly because of the
modular classrooms, and there are parking spaces and a playground adjacent to
the site.
"If the Coto residents vote down the plan," Fleming
said, "then the 1999-2000 year will be a very crowded and difficult year at
Wagon Wheel."
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