SAN CLEMENTE : Plans Center on Pier and Casa Romantica

Next year’s plans for the city’s Redevelopment Agency show a continued focus on the historic Casa Romantica and the “Pier Bowl” area surrounding the municipal pier, according to an annual report.

Scheduled improvements include a final design to restore Casa Romantica, a master plan for the Pier Bowl, replacement of 52-year-old sewer lines in the area and an expansion of a seafood restaurant on the pier, according to the report by senior planner Patricia Wilcocks.

The report predicts that plans to redevelop Casa Romantica, the mansion built in 1928 for city founder Ole Hanson, will be unveiled in June after a series of public workshops and hearings.

Casa Romantica, the bluff below it and a parking lot at the pier were purchased by the agency this year for $2.5 million. A developer was selected to create a design that would restore the home and possibly convert it to commercial use, in conjunction with the parking lot parcel.

Expenditures for the 1989-90 fiscal year are estimated at just over $1.2 million. That figure is roughly half of agency expenditures during the 1988-89 fiscal year, which also focused on Pier Bowl projects, the report said.

The agency gained $3 million from interest on its loans and generated $700,000 in revenues during 1988-89, the report said. It has also collected $440,000 in an account earmarked for affordable housing projects, based on an as-yet-undrafted plan that is due by January, 1994, according to state law.