MISSION VIEJO : Proposed Building Freeze Opposed

A proposed temporary building freeze here would violate the Mission Viejo Co.’s developer agreement with the county, a top corporate officer of the company said Tuesday, adding that the company is firmly opposed to the proposal.

“That agreement says that in exchange for certain public benefits, we get the right to develop,” David A. Celestin, vice president for planning and governmental relations, said in an interview. “We would definitely oppose” the moratorium.

Celestin’s comments marked the first direct response from the company to the controversial building moratorium proposal introduced last year by City Councilman Robert A. Curtis. Although company officials have previously downplayed the proposal’s importance, they had never indicated the company’s position or suggested that the proposal could represent a violation of the agreement.

Later, Curtis rejected Celestin’s argument, saying that local ordinances temporarily halting new development have been upheld elsewhere in California. Santa Clarita, for instance, enacted a building freeze in 1987, and it remains in effect today.

Under Curtis’ proposal, all new residential building inside the city limits would be halted until the city’s General Plan is complete.

That would mean a building freeze of at least several months, and possibly as much as a year, said Curtis, who is the subject of a recall effort backed by the Mission Viejo Co.

“We need a timeout in this building frenzy,” Curtis said. “The company is trying to divest itself of its remaining acreage, and we need to make sure that we protect our open space and parkland.”

Celestin, however, said the company has no intention of building more than 1,400 more residential units, consistent with its original plans for the community, created in 1965 and scheduled for completion within the next several years.

“We don’t want any higher densities,” Celestin said. “We want to complete this community just the way we originally set out to.”

After heated City Council debate last week, Curtis’ proposal was referred to the city staff for its recommendations. The staff was asked to complete its review in time for the council’s meeting Monday.

At that time, the council could vote on the freeze or on any other suggested measures to regulate growth in the city.