Nixon Library Development Wins Partial Approval

A 253-acre development in San Clemente that includes a library for former President Richard M. Nixon was partially approved Tuesday night by the city’s Planning Department.

The Planning Commission was scheduled to vote on the recommendation from the department later in the night.

The vote was threatened, however, by the developer’s insistence that its plan for grading the area be included in the decision. The city planning staff had recommended that the grading plans be considered and voted on only after more research.

Several Votes Ahead

Tuesday night’s vote was the first of several that lie ahead for the Nixon Library and its host development, the Marblehead Coastal project.

The Marblehead project covers one of the largest undeveloped parcels in Southern California. Its proposal encompasses a windswept bluff and three pine-filled canyons that would be developed with 1,290 homes, three hotels and a commercial center. The library would be on a 16.7-acre portion of the project overlooking a promontory where Nixon maintained his Western White House in 1969-74.

Ed Kweskin, Planning Commission chairman, said the development will be considered by the city in two phases.

The first phase will determine the most crucial questions of whether the proposed commercial and residential properties meet the city’s zoning requirements in such areas as traffic circulation and open space. The second phase involves “detail work,” such as the height of buildings, the drainage of the development, parking and the distance of buildings from the street, Kweskin said.

Both phases require Planning Commission and City Council approval, meaning there are at least four more votes ahead for the project at the city level. Kweskin predicted Tuesday that the second phase would be a much speedier process than the first. But city officials figured it could be fall or later before the city’s approval process is completed.

Even though the Nixon Library is part of the project, it received all of its city approvals more than two years ago. All that remains for construction of the library is approval by the California Coastal Commission.

But rather than apply to the Coastal Commission, members of the Nixon Archives Foundation decided to wait until after the Marblehead project is approved by the city. The foundation believes it has a better chance of receiving Coastal Commission approval if the library plans are submitted along with the rest of the Marblehead project.

The developer, the Lusk Co. of Irvine, is also not willing to pay for library site improvements until the entire project is approved.

Pressure Building

For two years, however, pressure to approve the Marblehead project has been building on San Clemente officials because hard-fought negotiations over the development have jeopardized construction of the library. City residents and council members support the library because it would bring a national attraction to the area and up to $2 million a year in revenue.

But the library foundation has threatened to take its plans elsewhere if there is not a decision soon on the Marblehead project. Library officials previously issued a July 1 deadline for city approval, but have since softened their position.

The library foundation has considered a site in Carlsbad and one other location, officials said. But Kweskin said he would be surprised if the foundation abandoned San Clemente, even with the long process.

“This is probably one of the premier sites in the contiguous 48 states,” he said. “Now if they want to give that up, that’s up to them.”

With the Marblehead project, city planners have been strict in their insistence on zoning compliance because San Clemente has had trouble with some past coastal developments and the Marblehead site is one of its last, large decisions.

Want Open Space

The city has insisted that 30% of the project, or about 76 acres, be maintained as open space. City Planner Jim Barnes said Tuesday the developers are still about 11 acres short of the city’s requirement.

And there is still a discrepancy over how much of the bluff will be graded as part of the development. Lusk had originally wanted to shave 40 feet off the 100-foot-high cliffs. But last month, in a series of compromises that led to the city’s vote, Lusk reduced its grading plans.

Even after all of the city decisions, the Coastal Commission vote could be the most difficult. Commission officials have already expressed concern about the project.

“They still have a big hoop to go through at the Coastal Commission,” Kweskin said.