SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO : Compromise Sought in Parking Lot Plan

An eleventh-hour effort was launched this week to save a patch of dirt and gravel that once served as the Mission San Juan Capistrano storage yard.

Members of San Juan Capistrano’s downtown Mission Hill and Mission Flats neighborhoods have filed an appeal to the City Council to save at least half of the one-acre lot at the intersection of El Camino Real and El Horno Street for a small park. Instead of a 91-space parking lot planned for the entire parcel, neighbors are seeking a compromise and a way to save the old pepper and ash trees, said the group’s leader, Mission Hill resident Patrick Crowley.

“We want to see the lot improved. It’s always been an eyesore. But we would like to save at least part of it,” Crowley said. He has submitted an alternative plan that calls for a park, playground and a parking lot with 40 spaces.

Until Feb. 19, the land was owned by Mission San Juan Capistrano and at one time had been designated as a future cemetery site, Crowley said. Under an agreement, the city will gain title to the property in exchange for the cost of building the parking lot.

But Crowley and other residents believe that the lot is a cultural resource and that an archeological survey should be done. They won the support this week of the city’s Cultural Heritage Commission, which voted 4 to 1 to repeal the paving plan.

The council is scheduled to approve plans for the lot and hear the appeal on May 19.