SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO : City Looking at New Redevelopment Plan

Tentative plans were unveiled this week for a six-acre center downtown that would include a park, pedestrian malls and a realignment of Ortega Highway.

The proposal, developed by an eight-member citizen committee, is meant to redevelop the city’s historic downtown area, yet do it in a way that pays tribute to its cultural roots, said Jeffrey C. Parker, assistant to City Manager Stephen B. Julian. The plan was forwarded to the city staff Tuesday night for further analysis.

Parker told the City Council the key to the success of the new town center would be its ability to attract visitors to the historic area just south of Mission San Juan Capistrano.

“We want to have pedestrian activity in the area,” Parker said. “We want to make it a very open area for pedestrians to visit the historical areas of the park.”

This proposal is the latest redevelopment plan for the downtown area. This plan is intended to replace an earlier, more commercial, plan that had met with strong opposition. That plan, drawn up in 1985, called for a 125-room hotel, restaurants and retail shops. Its opponents called it too intense for a historical area.

The realignment of Ortega Highway is expected to draw criticism. The plan calls for shifting the road south so that it would slice through downtown next to the Swallows Inn, then cross Camino Capistrano to Verdugo Street.

“I don’t think this is the best thing for the traffic flow through downtown,” said Bill Ortega, owner of a downtown shop called the Trading Post and a member of the committee that devised the plan.

Ortega was one of three committee members who did not support the street alignment. “I think they are changing the whole tone and atmosphere of the town by doing this,” he said.

Among the other chief elements of the new proposal:

* Renovation of the Blas Aguilar Adobe on the east side of El Camino Real to make it a museum. A recreation of the historic Hacienda Tejada next door would also be museum space.

* Rehabilitation of the historic Love House for use as a tourist information center.

* Uncovering and exposing other adobe foundations for public viewing, and adding plaques with background information.

* A park of about 3.5 acres that would be made available for concerts and other public activities. It would also include a gazebo, garden area and picnic tables.

* Extending Forster Street from Del Obispo Street to Camino Capistrano.

* A “mission forecourt,” to take in the area now occupied by Ortega Highway at the entrance to the mission, to be developed as a pedestrian plaza.

The town center plans must go before the public before they can be approved, said City Councilman Lawrence F. Buchheim, who is chairman of the city community redevelopment agency.

“This is just a layout for what can happen,” Buchheim said. “I want to have plenty of time for public input on this.”