SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO : Second Resignation Hits Planning Board

Mary Jane Forster has become the second member of the city Planning Commission to resign this summer, leaving the panel with only three members.

Forster, who served for two years, cited new responsibilities at her job and the recent restructuring of the Planning Commission as her reasons for leaving this week. She said her decision was unrelated to other recent departures from City Hall and debate over the city’s redevelopment.

“I was appointed to the National Drinking Water Advisory Council, something I had been working very hard to get, and now I won’t have time to do the work needed to be on the Planning Commission, to do things like get out and walk through the projects before us,” Forster said. “I’m a single mother of four, and that doesn’t leave me a lot of time.”

Forster is special projects coordinator for the Municipal Water District of Orange County.

The city recently restructured its development-review process and restricted the role that the Planning Commission plays in approving new projects in the city. A design-review committee has taken over most of the architectural-review functions of the Planning Commission, which was the part of the job that Forster said she enjoyed most.

“The role and mission of the Planning Commission will be different,” she said. “Our new role will have more to do with how a project fits into the general plan--things like traffic flow, the ‘footprints’ of the buildings, infrastructure--not the aesthetics of a project, which is what I am more interested in.”

The other commissioner to resign this summer was Carolyn Nash, a seven-year member who left in June after alleging that the city manager and City Council were giving some developers preferential treatment. Nash and other civic leaders, including the Friends of Historic San Juan Capistrano, have charged that what they term an “aggressive city redevelopment agency” is destroying the historic ambience of the city.

Of the three commissioners remaining--Wyatt Hart, James Erickson and Gil Jones--one, Jones, has announced his intention to run for City Council. If Jones were elected, that would result in another commission vacancy.