San Clemente : Redevelopment District Reduced to 29 Acres

A proposed 66-acre downtown redevelopment district was reduced to 29 acres by the City Council this week, a move that will allow the city to focus its efforts on revitalizing the Avenida del Mar business district, City Manager James B. Hendrickson said.

The city’s existing redevelopment district includes the once rundown pier bowl area and surrounding streets. Last May, the council asked the Planning Commission to draw up redevelopment plans for an additional 66 acres downtown that was bounded on the north by Avenida Marquita and on the south by Avenida Mateo.

Because of the limited money available for redevelopment, however, city staffers came back to the council this week and asked that the proposed district be limited to the Del Mar business area, bounded by Avenida Cabrillo and Avenida de la Estrella. The council approved the reduction without opposition and directed the Planning Commission to prepare a new redevelopment plan.

“There was concern by a number of community people and by the council that we had gone overboard in our original plans and were too expansive,” Hendrickson said. “Redevelopment is a very sensitive issue in this community. It will be used for very legitimate, defensible public projects.”

The improvements anticipated to be made through redevelopment include four downtown parking facilities, a fund to improve building facades, undergrounding of overhead wiring, and possible additions to the Community Center, Community Development Director Harry Weinroth’s report to the council said.

As part of the policy statement adopted by the council, the city will be able to acquire property in the redevelopment district only through its powers of eminent domain, and not through the broader powers of condemnation a redevelopment agency normally has.

Property acquired by way of eminent domain must be used for a public use, such as a city parking lot. Condemned properties in redevelopment districts, however, may be pooled and sold to private developers for commercial purposes.