San Juan Debates Plans to Revamp Downtown

Nearly 100 San Juan Capistrano residents packed the City Council chamber Tuesday night to voice their opinions on two competing redevelopment proposals that would change the face of the historic mission town.

The city’s Community Redevelopment Agency is expected to select one of the proposals later this month as the blueprint for a $30- to $40-million redevelopment of the downtown area.

The proposals under consideration were submitted by two different partnerships--one made up of Birtcher, a Laguna Niguel-based development company, and J. W. Colachis resorts, owner of the Rancho Bernardo Inn, and the other made up of Oliver McMillan and Collin Development Co., both of San Diego.

Both proposals include a 125- to 150-room hotel, several restaurants, shops and a main town square. The cost of the Birtcher/Colachis project is estimated at $39 million, about $15 million more than the McMillan/Collin project.

Members of the Birtcher family are longtime residents of San Juan Capistrano, and the home-field advantage was apparent at Tuesday’s public hearing as a steady stream of residents made their way to the podium to urge the Redevelopment Agency--whose members are the members of the City Council--to select the Birtcher/Colachis proposal.

“The Birtchers reside in San Juan; they share our pride in our town and our cultural heritage,” said Mike Darnold, owner of El Peon, a large gift shop across from Mission San Juan Capistrano. “The future of our little village is very much at stake.”

Two descendants of the oldest San Juan Capistrano ranching families also spoke in favor of the Birtcher project: Rancho Mission Viejo President Tony Moiso, a descendant of the O’Neill family, and Tony Forster, a descendant of Don Juan Forster.

“We’re blessed with having one of the finest developers of the nation as a resident,” Moiso said.

But Jim Thorpe, who helped formulate early plans to develop the downtown area in the 1970s, warned the agency to preserve the historic character of the town, regardless of which plan it ultimately chooses.

“When I look at the two plans on the wall, it makes me kind of sad,” Thorpe said. “This is going to kill the old San Juan and create a new one . . . maybe a better San Juan, but different.”