Dreaming Up a Downtown : San Juan Capistrano Carefully Launches New Redevelopment Effort

Along with 217-year-old Mission San Juan Capistrano, the old train depot and the Michael Graves-designed public library, the city’s historic downtown would have had one more architectural highlight if the former City Council had gotten its way.

Namely, a 150-room Spanish-style hotel.

The hotel was the centerpiece of a $15-million redevelopment project that came ever so close to breaking ground in 1989, only to fall victim to a vociferous local political war. The city’s historical preservationists pressured the council to back off, and the deal was killed.

But at 8 a.m. Saturday, the city is starting over with a series of open-air public workshops to re-examine developing a four-block parcel in the heart of downtown where the ill-fated hotel would have been built.

Another hotel/commercial center or perhaps a park are among the suggestions being considered by city officials, who are determined to let the public have a say in the matter.

“This workshop process is designed to allow a free and open discussion,” said Thomas Tomlinson, the city’s director of planning. “We are saying here’s the property, here are its constraints; let’s work together with our fellow citizens and develop a plan for the area.”

Among the constraints that helped kill the last project are a group of historical stone foundations that were unearthed during the earliest stages of design work.

After the foundations were discovered, local preservationists who thought the project would destroy the downtown’s charm went into an uproar.

Drawing more than 200 residents to their first meeting, American Indian leader David Belardes and city resident John Tattum, among others, founded the Friends of Historic San Juan Capistrano, a preservationist group determined to be a vocal political force.

Group members immediately hit the streets with pickets to protest downtown redevelopment.

“Our group originated out of this project,” said Mark Clancey, the group’s outspoken point man. “The underlying basis for our protest was that this is a historically and archeologically significant area, and 200,000 square feet of retail shops and a three-story hotel didn’t seem to be an appropriate use for it. In retrospect, as a community, we are probably very fortunate that project didn’t happen.”

Mayor Gil Jones, however, is not so sure.

Admitting that he might be committing “political suicide,” Jones suggested several months ago that maybe junking the hotel plan was a mistake, considering the financial boost it could have given the city.

“I certainly think we missed a window of opportunity five or six years ago,” Jones said this week. “We had a chance to develop something the community as a whole would have accepted.”

Jones blames the uproar generated by the hotel project on a vocal few who misled many others. The best way to counter the old biases is the “town hall” workshop process, he said.

“This gives us an opportunity to develop something the community as a whole can accept,” Jones said. “I’m willing to accept anything the community comes up with. If they want a passive park, and we can afford it, fine.”

The three-acre project area begins at Ortega Highway and includes the buildings that house the Cafe Capistrano, El Peon Plaza and the Swallows Inn, continuing south to the intersection of El Camino Real and Forster Street, next to Birtcher Plaza.

A park highlighted by archeological relics and the restoration of two now boarded-up historical buildings on El Camino Real are among the proposals being considered for the project.

The realignment of Ortega Highway to make room for a plaza at the entrance to the mission is also part of a larger proposal to reconfigure the downtown area.

Saturday’s workshop begins near the San Juan Institute at 8 a.m. The second of seven workshops will be held Feb. 27.