DANA POINT : Officials Say Eatery Hard to Swallow

On an average school day, the patio of Sysco Donuts and Burgers is filled with a steady flow of about 50 teen-agers. Most are students from Dana Hills High School, who leave campus at lunch to play video games and grab a snack at the popular hangout.

“We come here to relax and get away from school for a while,” said sophomore Clay Dokken, who was busy munching on a glazed doughnut and drinking a Coke on a sunny afternoon last week. “The food at school is pretty bad and it’s expensive, so I’d just rather eat here.”

But upstairs from the doughnut shop is Dana Point City Hall, and tension has been brewing for more than two years between the two unlikely neighbors. City officials contend that the constant presence of the teen-agers during business hours has led to problems with graffiti, rampant noise and trash.

“It’s a very intolerable situation,” City Manager William O. Talley said last week during a special joint meeting between the City Council and the Capistrano Unified School District.

Talley and council members asked the district’s Board of Trustees to consider changing Dana Hills High School from an open campus to a closed campus, which they say would eliminate some of the problems at the center.

“We’re dealing with a lot of people who just don’t care about people’s rights and feelings,” Talley said of the teen-agers.

Talley said he is “thoroughly intimidated” by some of the teen-agers and said employees have had their cars vandalized. A number of businesses have “thrown up their hands and left,” and the few that remain “are beside themselves,” he said.

“They create a horrible mess, use profane language and ride their skateboards,” complained Tom Saunders, who has operated an animal hospital in the center for more than two years. “Most are OK, but it’s the minority that create the difficulties . . .”

District officials said it is unlikely they would change crowded Dana Hills--with its 2,700 students and staggered schedules--to a closed campus like the district’s other two high schools, San Clemente and Capistrano Valley. “We have kids who . . . start school at 6:45 a.m., so they are through with school by noon,” Principal John Smart said. “It would be very difficult to enforce a closed campus because many students have legitimate reasons to leave.”

The teen-agers say the shop, which opened in 1989, is an ideal place to gather because it’s across the street from campus.

Smart said the school sends a classified employee over to the shop during lunch to supervise students who hang out.

Some of the students who frequent the shop say they are getting an unfair rap.

“I can’t understand why they would put City Hall here anyway,” said sophomore Mary Cheesman. “I think everyone is overreacting. It’s not like we’re going around thrashing the place.”

The owner of the property, Moba Development and Management Inc., has tried unsuccessfully in the past to buy the doughnut shop’s five-year lease, said Ed Conway, a representative for the development company.

Shop owners Seng and Lay Sy could not be reached for comment. Their attorney, Greg E. Grantham, said his clients refused an offer of $20,000 and are asking for $100,000 for the buyout of their lease.

“My client is an innocent party,” Grantham said. “The city is putting pressure on the property owner to get him out.”

The doughnut shop, which recently installed two video games, is open only during the school year and on weekdays.

“When they opened up the doughnut shop, they thought it would be a great location because it would be near the high school,” Grantham said.