COTO DE CAZA : Hunt Club, Builder Near Agreement

A 6-foot-high chain-link fence, erected last week to keep members out of the Hunt Club, has been removed, a sign that an accord is near between the 22-year-old shooting club and the developer of the exclusive foothill community.

William Radovich, president of Coto Valley Country Club, which operates the shooting club, said the 200-member club and Coto de Caza Ltd. have agreed in concept on a plan to settle their differences and determine the future of sport shooting in Coto de Caza.

The development company wants to build houses and a golf course on 5,200 acres in the Hunt Club’s current location. The company surprised and angered club members by putting up the fence last week.

But Radovich said a three-day settlement conference in Orange County Superior Court ended Saturday with “a proposed settlement on the table.”

Under the proposal, he said, the Hunt Club would have an opportunity to modify a plan for an alternative shooting location in Coto de Caza. That plan was rejected in May by the Orange County Planning Commission for safety and environmental reasons. The modified plan would be resubmitted under the proposal.

Moreover, he said, Coto de Caza Ltd. would pay for an environmental impact study that the county has demanded for the proposed alternative shooting site.

In turn, Radovich said, after the settlement is signed, the club would move out of its existing location.

He said club members would continue target shooting on a limited basis at the proposed new range in a remote canyon while trying to obtain county approval to stay there permanently.