ORANGE COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : Open Space for All

Ever since the mission was founded at San Juan Capistrano about 215 years ago, that community has had an enviable blend of historic and agrarian ambience. Fortunately, today’s residents have a strong appreciation of that past and a desire to preserve as much as possible.

They showed that inclination last year when they supported a “Save the Open Space” bond election. No fewer than seven out of every 10 voters agreed to pay additional taxes for the next 25 years to preserve farmland, open space and the city’s pastoral environment.

San Juan Capistrano now must decide how to best spend the $21 million that the bond issue has provided. That’s a situation most communities would like to be facing.

But as might be expected, with the money came problems: There’s disagreement on just how it should be allocated.

Some want what they call “passive” open space, land that just lies there, untrampled upon and unused. It has been agricultural land; it should remain that way; pristine is proper, they contend. Others want “active” open space, undeveloped in the urban sense but used as athletic fields and riding trails and perhaps for a recreational center or two.

Both have a point; the trick will be to fashion an open-space program that is duly respectful of both needs. The city already has purchased one 56-acre farm and is negotiating the purchase of 120 acres. It must be mindful of the past but must also consider the surveys and community meetings that indicate strong desire for some of the land to be used for recreation.

San Juan Capistrano ought to work out a plan that strikes a balance between its residents’ two notions of how open space ought to be used--now and for generations to come.