Injunction Granted against Paragliding on LADWP Property in Corral Canyon

• Malibu Location Is Where Man Taking Lessons Died in August

BY ANNE SOBLE

The Los Angeles City Department of Water and Power prevailed in court last week in its quest for a preliminary injunction in the matter of the City of Los Angeles v. Fiset et al.
The preliminary injunction prohibits Claude Fiset, the owner of Malibu Paragliding; his students; the employees, officers, agents of his company; and anyone acting with him, in concert with him or on his behalf, from entering or utilizing LADWP property in Corral Canyon in any way until the trial on the permanent injunction, or further order of the court.
A case management conference with the presiding judge, James Chalfant, has been scheduled for Jan. 9, 2009.
The LADWP contends that Fiset has been using the 102-acre undeveloped site owned by the City of Los Angeles to illegally conduct a commercial operation offering paragliding instruction and tandem flights. Trespass issues are also involved.
A student of Fiset’s Malibu Paragliding operation, which distributes brochures throughout Malibu, died from blunt force injuries when his craft flew into a hillside on the property on Aug. 8.
The court’s minute order states that there was no appearance on behalf of the defendant at the Sept. 17 hearing. Fiset emailed the Malibu Surfside News, “I was there, I missed it by five minutes.” He added, “I agreed not to go on their land way before that day. It would save us all time and money if they dropped this now.”
Fiset has also run afoul of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy for using Malibu Bluffs Park as a launch and landing site. However, nearby residents inform The News that PG flights have occurred nearly every weekend since the agency issued its prohibition. The residents are not able to determine if these are Fiset’s craft.
But Fiset’s equipment and gear were definitely involved in a face-off with Los Angeles County lifeguards last weekend in the Trancas/Broad Beach area.
Lifeguard Capt. Remy Smith, the on scene captain, told the Malibu Surfside News that Fiset was about to take a customer for a tandem ride when lifeguards approached him to raise concerns about public safety.
Smith said Fiset told them he had permission to launch from a homeowner on the beach. When they tried to question him further, the lifeguard said, “[Fiset] grabbed a customer and took off.”
A subsequent check with the homeowner indicated that no permission was ever granted.
The lifeguards called for a backup sheriff’s deputy. The deputy told them there are no laws prohibiting paragliding, but he radioed a helicopter unit to monitor the paraglider until he landed.
Because Fiset had left his gear on the county beach while he was airborne, five lifeguards waited for him to land and warned him about endangering beachgoers and local residents. Smith said, “We could tell he was not hearing anything we were saying.”
Without even inquiring what the lifeguards had said about him, Fiset told The News that “the lifeguards lied and the sheriff’s helicopter pilot is dangerous...much more than any of us.”
Fiset added, “It would be good if the local authorities had a chance to travel [to places paragliding is promoted] and see how much freedom exists elsewhere.”