The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department this week denied a report saying a plot of land situated near Sheriff Alex Villanueva’s La Habra Heights home was being cleared to build a helipad without the owner’s approval.
In a statement, the department said the report in local media claiming it was performing construction on the land without authorization was “erroneous.”
Reports surfaced on Wednesday that crews had allegedly begun grading an area that sits above Villanueva’s house and bringing in dirt despite not having approvalfrom the owner, Southern California Gas Co.
Reportedly, sheriff’s officials met with utility workers at the land last summer, where they asked about the possibility of building a helipad there. While the request was initially denied, construction reportedly began.
The department denied doing such work, saying “the work performed consisted primarily of brush clearing; no dirt was ever brought in, no fencing was ever built, and there was never a plan to pour cement or build a helipad.”
The department claimed it was given approval by the gas company in January to clear the land to use in an emergency, following a threat assessment conducted at the sheriff’s home because of “numerous credible threats, and protests.”
“The goal was simply to clear a plot of land which could be utilized in an emergency for landing a helicopter, just like an intersection or school field is used as a contingency in an emergency,” the department said, adding that “services were procured within the county’s purchasing guidelines.”
It has been reported that city investigators who visited the area earlier this month noticed a hillside slope had been leveled. La Habra Heights City Manager Fabiola Huerta told The Times, “From the information we received from the Gas Company, I believe it was the Sheriff’s Department doing the work.”
In a cease-and-desist letter from a lawyer with gas company, attorney Michelle Meghrouni demanded the construction stop and dirt brought to the land removed.
A county attorney said in a letter that moves have made to direct the Sheriff’s Department to “immediately cease any and all activities” on the land during an investigation.
