SAN CLEMENTE : Major Studies Urged for ’83 Landslide Site

Planners have called for a major environmental and geological study of Verde Canyon before considering any development proposals that attempt to repair damage from a 1983 landslide that destroyed 10 homes.

The recommendation came Monday night as the Planning Commission neared the end of its deliberations on the city’s proposed General Plan, which will guide development and planning in the next 20 years.

The Planning Commission will conclude its work on the plan Tuesday, and the City Council will begin its deliberations March 10.

Although a specific Verde Canyon development plan has not been submitted to the city, a developer is proposing to spend an estimated $6 million to stabilize the canyon and rebuild the 10 condemned properties, six of which were long ago abandoned and remain boarded-up haunts for vandals and transients. To make the plan economically viable, officials with Verde Canyon Redevelopment Inc. say they would need to build 30 new houses in the 18-acre canyon.

But until the environmental study is complete and more information is available about the problems in the canyon, the Planning Commission recommended that no changes be made in the General Plan.

The development proposal has caused much controversy among canyon residents.

Supporters say the development proposal is the only realistic solution they’ve seen in years to remove the blight and prevent further slides.

Opponents say the canyon should be preserved and that development work could further undermine already unstable canyon walls.

Verde Canyon resident Paul Lukes, who submitted to the Planning Commission a petition bearing the names of about 300 San Clemente residents opposed to the project, urged officials to kill the proposal immediately, rather than spending any more time or money on it.

Steve Marsh, project manager for Verde Canyon redevelopment, said he has found about 60 people from the 180 homes within 300 feet of the canyon edge in favor of the proposal.

The environmental study could take about eight months to complete.

During Monday’s hearing, the planning commissioners also approved a series of recommendations involving proposed redevelopment in Los Molinos Business Park.

In recent weeks, property owners in the business park have protested a General Plan proposal that would change land use in the area, saying they believed the city was trying to force them out. City officials say no one will be forced to move.

In response to the complaints, the Planning Commission recommended several policies that would allow the businesses to keep their old zoning designations, even if their properties were to be sold or destroyed in a natural disaster or accident.

“The existing uses could stay forever and ever,” City Planner Catherine O’Hara said. “They will only change if the (property owner) chooses.”