SAN CLEMENTE : Council Approves General Plan Update

Wrapping up two years of work and debate, the City Council has approved an update to the community’s General Plan, the first since 1982.

The council concluded its work on the plan last week and will delay a final vote for six to eight weeks to make sure that all the wording in the plan is correct. The General Plan, which will guide planning and development in the city into the next century, will be available for a 30-day public verification review before the council’s vote on the wording.

A majority of the council members said they believe that the plan is a good one.

“It was a lot of work and a lot of people were involved in it for a long time,” Councilman Joseph Anderson said. “It really has had input from all elements in the community.”

Work on the plan, which included a citizens advisory committee in the early stages, took longer than expected, with many revisions being made once the plan reached the council, officials said.

Councilman Thomas Lorch, however, said he is not satisfied with much of the plan, which he said called for “high density, high development in the inner city.”

Lorch is especially unhappy with a land-use provision that leaves open the possibility of a 123-room resort being built on the Beachcomber Motel and Robison home sites in the Pier Bowl.

While the council did scrap a controversial rezoning plan for the Avenida Pico/Los Molinos industrial area, much debate remains over a land-use designation in the plan that could allow development on the bottom of slide-scarred Verde Canyon.

The plan, among other things, also allows for the potential relocation of San Clemente High School to make way for a regional commercial center as well as mixing commercial, public and residential uses to create a “pedestrian-oriented” village character in some parts of the community.

Once the wording in the plan receives final approval, officials will begin the lengthy task of updating the city’s zoning code to make sure that it is consistent with any changes in the General Plan. Officials will also be rewriting the code to make it easier to read and use.

To help update the zoning code, the council is seeking residents to serve on an advisory committee. Those interested in serving on the committee can call the city clerk’s office for an application and additional information at (714) 361-8300.