San Juan Moves Toward Farmland Purchase

The San Juan Capistrano City Council on Tuesday night took a first step toward buying 200 acres of farmland to prevent its development.

The council agreed to a proposal by Mayor Gary Hausdorfer that the city hire consultants to study the idea of selling a municipal bond to raise money for the land. That bond, if approved by voters, would act as a savings account, giving the city funds to buy land from farmers in the open market. It also could be written to guarantee that the land would only be used for open space, a park area or possibly a school site.

The bond would be repaid by an additional tax of between $200 and $500 per year on all property owners in the city.

In 1977, the city zoned 230 acres as farmland, a designation which depreciates its sale value, farmers have argued. Although buyers potentially could develop that land with city approval, the label itself tends to reduce the price that the land will command, farmers said.

The bond would allow local farmers to sell their land to the city, which in turn would get more recreation space.

“If we want to preserve agriculture as a city, we need to come up with a system to let the farmers be treated fairly,” Hausdorfer said.

The consultants will develop financing options for the property, write a bond and appraise the sites, which include 56 acres of Kinoshita Farms off Alipaz Street and Charles Vermuelen Farms along Camino del Avion and along north Camino Capistrano.

Tuesday’s action was the first step toward putting the bond issue on a November, 1989, or April, 1990, ballot, Hausdorfer said.

“The real question people are going to be faced with is whether they want the land to remain as open space or do they want it to be developed,” he added.

Longtime farmer Robert Kinoshita of Kinoshita Farms said the 1977 farmland zoning has prevented him and his brother Shig from selling their land and retiring. The Kinoshitas have owned their farm since 1955 but are eager to sell it and move.

“The city’s money is as good as anybody else’s,” he said. “As long as we can get a fair market price.”

Some farm owners, however, have managed to make some deals despite the 1977 zoning.

William Bathgate’s 77-acre ranch is in escrow with the Rev. Robert H. Schuller Ministries as a possible cemetery site. Alex J. Michaels has considered plans to sell his 23 acres of land to the owner of a San Clemente car dealership.