Recall Target Urges Mission Viejo Freeze : Curtis Calls for Development Halt Until General Plan Is Complete

Mission Viejo City Councilman Robert A. Curtis, facing a recall effort financed in part by local developers, proposed Monday that all new development in the city be frozen until the city’s general plan is completed.

The plan, which will spell out land-use decisions to guide future growth, is being analyzed by a city committee and will be presented for public review in the coming months.

“If we do not take immediate steps to freeze new development in the remaining 20% of open land in our city,” Curtis said, “then we will make a mockery of the General Plan Advisory Committee efforts and render their recommendations moot.”

Proposal to Go on Agenda

Curtis’ proposal will be placed on the agenda for the next council meeting in two weeks, and he has indicated that he intends to press for new developer fees. In particular, he has said that he will ask the other council members to join him in backing a proposal that would allow the city to levy a fee of $1.50 per square foot on new home development in areas where local school boards formally declare that schools are overcrowded.

“The city should realize what impact residential development will have on the school population,” Curtis said. “In the meantime, we need to take time out in the development frenzie and make sure the general plan is solid.”

Curtis said his proposal could end up costing developers millions of dollars. That gives developers strong reason to oppose the idea, and some council members accused Curtis of using the proposal as a weapon to retaliate against developers who are lobbying for his ouster.

Company Supports Recall

Among those opposing Curtis is the Mission Viejo Co., which is supporting a recall drive in which 12,001 signatures have been gathered. Those signatures are being verified and could lead to a recall election early next year.

Recall proponents say they mainly object to Curtis’ attempts to have the city annex Aegean Hills, a pie-shaped community south of Mission Viejo. The Mission Viejo Co. also opposes the annexation.

Having incurred the wrath of some local citizens and the city’s most powerful special interest, Curtis finds himself in a furious struggle, the outcome of which will likely determine his political future.

With developers leaning hard on Curtis, some of the councilman’s colleagues portray his latest initiative as an effort to strike back and to divert attention from the recall battle. Councilman Chris Keena, for instance, called it a “political grandstand.”

But Curtis has pressed ahead and says his proposal needs attention now, while the city and Mission Viejo Co. are negotiating amendments to a development contract that spells out the company’s obligations to the city.