DANA POINT : City to Study Vote on General Plan Details

Before a packed chamber this week, the City Council stood behind its controversial General Plan but unanimously agreed to study the possibility of holding a citywide vote over parts of it.

After listening to 20 speakers divided evenly between plan supporters and critics Tuesday night, the council directed City Atty. Jerry Patterson to report back on whether the most disputed sections of the plan of more than 400 pages can be broken out and put to an advisory vote.

Patterson indicated that he might need up to two months to compile the report.

The council’s action at least temporarily puts to rest the dispute on the merits of the General Plan, unanimously approved by the council July 9.

Critics have said that the plan is too oriented to tourists, at the expense of quality of life, and that it does not properly address the traffic, housing and environmental impacts that would be byproducts of two major resort projects now in the planning process.

While the council agreed to further study, the decision does not mean that a ballot initiative is imminent, Mayor Mike Eggers said Wednesday.

“We’re going to find out all the options that are available,” Eggers said. “We told (Patterson) to do a very thorough job. In the past, some members of the community have accused us of making decisions without all the facts. So we thought we would get all the facts.”

But Eggers added: “It’s clear to me that there is not a majority of the council who favor putting the entire General Plan to an up-or-down vote. I counted four of us who said so (Tuesday) night.”

Councilwoman Judy Curreri suggested in August that the council sponsor an advisory initiative as a means of calming unrest. At Tuesday’s meeting, she repeated her support for the plan as written and again called for it to be placed before the voters.

“Basically, I feel that going to a vote of the people on about any issue is a worthy thing,” Curreri told the audience. “We did it with cityhood, and the voters came in with the good decision to become a city. . . . I think the voters will study this issue and lend support to the decision the council has taken.”

Several members of a grass-roots group of critics who set off the conflict by petitioning for a citywide vote on the plan continued to say they are considering legal action.

“What we want are intelligent development plans that are representative of the people who have lived here for some time,” said Jim Hayton, owner of Dana Point Car Wash.

But supporters urged the council members to stand behind the plan as is and to avoid “ballot-box planning.”

“We don’t want to see our city turned into a political science class or an experiment,” Diane Harkey of Capistrano Beach said. “Approve the plan and take the hits.”