SAN CLEMENTE : City Seeks Changes in Proposed Center

Although plans for a 77,000-square-foot retail center were approved in concept, the Planning Commission warned the project’s developer that changes are needed before a final vote is taken.

Commissioners were pleased with the location of the shopping plaza, which would serve residents in the city’s growing eastern sector, but criticized the architectural and landscaping plans.

The shopping center would be built on 6.5 acres on the corner of Avenida Pico and Avenida Presidio. Prospective tenants include a Lucky Food Center.

During a Planning Commission meeting Tuesday, both commissioners and audience members agreed that the estimated 3,000 people living in two housing tracts in the area lack the convenience of a nearby shopping center.

Kelly Main, an assistant city planner, said the location of the property would make the project “a gateway site” from the eastern ranch lands into the city.

However, she added, the property, owned and being developed by the Tsuma Family Trust, lacks enough landscaping to blend the proposed project into the surrounding terrain.

Although approved conceptually by city staff, the proposed center’s architecture was criticized by the Community Design Commission, which recommended denial of the structural drawings.

Because of a technicality in the public notice for Tuesday’s meeting, the Planning Commission was forced to continue the hearing on the proposed project to its March 20 meeting.