SAN CLEMENTE : Developer Gives Up on Jazz Club Plans
A local developer has abandoned plans to open a downtown jazz club because of the city’s building moratorium.
The freeze on all new construction was imposed in January by a City Council concerned about potential water shortages this summer. The jazz club would have occupied a former bank building, but the moratorium also prohibits any renovation that would increase water use by 25%.
“The City Council imposed a broad, sweeping law, and we just got caught up in it,” developer Ray Campbell said. “I’m tired of fighting for this.”
Campbell’s club on north El Camino Real was approved last November by the City Council, despite complaints from some downtown residents that the night spot would cause parking and traffic problems.
“It just took the pleasure out of the effort,” Campbell said of the moratorium. “I’ve got other things to do than to hassle it out for another 10 months.”
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