Capistrano Beach : $1.5-Million, 29-Unit Time-Share Hotel OKd

Occasional visitors to southern Orange County will be able to buy a place in the sun for one week a year as the result of Coastal Commission approval of a $1.5-million, 29-unit time-share hotel to be built near the ocean in Capistrano Beach.

Before approval was finally granted, however, the 12-member body required the applicant, the Capistrano Beach Hotel Partnership, to agree to the commission’s waiver of any liability in the event of geological or wave damage. Additionally, it required the partnership to acknowledge that construction with the knowledge of possible hazards may render it ineligible for federal aid in the event of a natural disaster.

“That is typical for something to be built on a bluff or oceanfront . . . where there may be geological or wave hazard,” said Chris Kroll, staff planner for the commission. “We can’t tell them not to build, but we can’t be liable for loss of property in the event of a slide.”

Francisco Montesinos, architect in charge of the hotel project, said the individual suites would have one to two bedrooms each and would sell for between $10,000 and $15,000 to owners who would be allowed to use the units for one week each year. Final plans are nearing completion, with county approval expected by the end of May, Montesinos said. Construction could begin as early as June.