SAN CLEMENTE : Delay Looms in New Housing Permits

Developers looking to win approval for housing projects under Measure B--a successful voter initiative that has limited the number of new homes built each year in San Clemente since 1986--may have their plans put on hold while the city revises the ordinance.

Unless City Atty. Jeffrey M. Oderman rules differently, the city Planning Department will stop reviewing building permit applications while a committee appointed by the City Council reviews the ordinance next week.

Under Measure B, developers must compete for an annual allotment of no more than 500 new housing units for the whole city.

Each project submitted by the city goes through a review process and is awarded a point value by the city planning staff.

However, the City Council is not obligated to award the housing allocations according to point totals, and developers have complained about the point system since the ordinance was enacted.

One developer, the Irvine-based Richmond American Homes, filed a suit against the city two months ago, claiming that it was bypassed in favor of less-qualified projects with lower point totals in the last round of allocations in February.

The City Council wants to revise the ordinance and stop processing permit applications in the meantime.

“They want to revise the criteria (for awarding points),” said Jim Holloway, city community development director, “and it doesn’t make sense to continue processing the applications until they decide on new criteria.”

The halt in reviewing applications won’t officially begin until the city attorney rules on the legality of the action, Holloway said, adding that the legal review is expected to take up to two weeks.