36-Acre Auto Mall Planned for Rancho Santa Margarita

Santa Margarita Co. said Friday it will build a 36-acre auto mall in its master-planned community in south Orange County.

Ford Motor Co. has already agreed to buy six acres in the new center, which the development company said will eventually have about a dozen dealerships. Construction is scheduled to begin this summer in a 450-acre business park being built as part of Rancho Santa Margarita.

The company projects that the auto mall, to be just north of Santa Margarita Parkway near Avenida Empresa, will generate $1.7 million in annual sales tax revenue and create 520 jobs. The site, originally slated for light industrial use or manufacturing, is near the planned Foothill Transportation Corridor toll road.

The mall will have what the company calls an early California look: tile roofs, fountains and stucco exteriors. The dealerships will encircle two interior parking plazas.

“This will undoubtedly be successful,” said Dan Kelley, vice president of governmental relations at Santa Margarita Co. “The enthusiasm by Ford, the construction of Foothill Corridor and the creation of an auto center unlike any other gives us strong confidence this will be extremely successful.”

The project is drawing criticism, though, from some local residents, many of whom have homes overlooking the site. When company officials unveiled the proposal at a town hall meeting Thursday night, homeowners in developments such as Estrella Vista and Las Portillas expressed concerns about night lights, hours of operation and environmental issues.

“We moved out here to get away from urban ways of life,” said Martha Della Ripa, one of about 100 homeowners who attended the meeting. “We have nice views and a beautiful panorama, and we don’t want to see anything with a lot of lights.”

Residents are discussing whether to form a group opposing the auto mall, she said.

Company officials, however, argued that environmentally sensitive lighting will be used and that dealerships’ service areas will be enclosed to reduce noise.

“We’re confident that what will be there won’t be unpleasant or obtrusive to the residents,” Kelley said.

Still, at least one auto industry expert questioned whether Orange County needs another cluster of car dealerships.

“With the Irvine auto mall close and the strip of dealers in San Juan Capistrano and Mission Viejo, do you need another mall just a few miles inland?” asked George Peterson, president of AutoPacifc Inc., a real estate consultant in Santa Ana. “These people are probably doing detailed studies of population growth, but I wonder if we need another one.”

The company estimates that 531,000 people live within a 12-mile radius of the proposed center and projects that the population will increase to 611,400 within four years.

Auto Rejection

Santa Margarita Co. plans to build an auto mall have been met with objections from local homeowners.