San Clemente : Developer Withdraws Talega Valley Plans

Plans for the huge Talega Valley project in the city’s backcountry, already given preliminary approval by the Planning Commission, were abruptly withdrawn by the developer this week.

The specific plan for the 3,500-acre project, which received “conceptual approval” from the Planning Commission last December, still contained a number of “unresolved issues,” according to City Planner Steve Flint, who said the land-use plan submitted by the Santa Margarita Co. was “unimaginative and two-dimensional.”

Attempts to reach company officials Friday were unsuccessful.

The company withdrew its plans, which call for 5,265 homes to be built over the next 10 to 15 years, just three weeks before a special municipal election that will decide how the city will manage the growth boom that is spreading over the rolling hills east of Interstate 5. The developer may submit new plans at any time, Flint said.

A citizens group critical of the speed with which the city was approving the backcountry developments placed an initiative on the ballot that would limit growth to 500 units a year.

Three members of the City Council, saying that there already are sufficient checks in place to guard against rampant growth, put a countermeasure on the same ballot outlining the city’s General Plan.

The Talega Valley proposal “offered little in the way of commercial or office-type opportunities, or affordable housing and multifamily apartments,” Flint said. “We’re trying to accomplish a wide mix of housing types, with balanced uses--this (the Talega plan) was predominantly single-family, residential development.”

An economic impact study done by an outside consulting group showed that the Talega plan would be a drain on the city’s finances in the long run, Flint said. The Santa Margarita Co. had questioned the validity of the study, he said, but has not produced any alternative evidence as company officials had said they would do.

A key provision of the City Council-sponsored ballot measure is that developments would only be approved if they show a positive fiscal impact on the city.