SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO : Council Approves Playhouse Outlet

The City Council has voted to allow a children’s playhouse outlet into the Home Design Center near Plaza Del Obispo, over the objections of Councilwoman Carolyn Nash.

The council vote was 4 to 1 to let the 5,000-square-foot Beach Ball Fun House move into the center, which has been restricted to home-design-oriented retail stores selling such items as furniture, lighting, wallpaper and paint. But the slack economy and the large vacancy rate at the center--which is squeezed between Plaza del Obispo and Interstate 5--prompted the council to approve the new children’s entertainment outlet.

The Beach Ball Fun House will have a beach theme and will feature a restaurant and an indoor play land of tube tunnels, bubble balls, slides and climbing equipment.

“It’s a great concept,” said City Councilman Jeff Vasquez of the children’s center. “Right now, we are seeing dramatic changes in the marketplace. I think the other stores will be grateful for the increase in traffic and exposure this will generate.”

Mayor Gil Jones agreed. He added that the design center was a good idea that isn’t working in the current economic climate.

But Nash said the change will take away from the original concept of a high-end center specifically for home design uses.

“Are we going to allow the center to become just another typical retail center? That’s exactly what will happen,” Nash said. “Just generating traffic does not actually translate into more business for the center. . . . I think it’s the wrong thing to do.”