It’s a Marine Landing of Sorts--and the Neighbors Don’t Like It : Housing: Residents of an exclusive community sign a petition opposing the construction of duplexes for 128 military families. Camp Pendleton cites a severe shortage of living quarters.

Michael Koehn moved into an exclusive gated community at the south end of town seven years ago and has found peace and quiet ever since. Until now.

The United States Marine Corps wants to build badly needed duplexes for 128 Marine officer families on San Mateo Point, a scenic bluff top about 400 feet across the San Diego County line from some of this city’s most attractive and expensive homes.

The idea has riled Koehn and more than 200 other nearby homeowners who have signed a petition against the project. They fear the value of their homes will plummet, traffic will increase, and the project will siphon off water and sewer service from city residents.

“It’s a terrible idea,” said Koehn, 47. “It’s one of the last pristine places in San Clemente and all of a sudden these guys want to cover it up.”

“I don’t understand why they had to choose that spot right next to the best housing in San Clemente,” added Laura Gleason, who lives elsewhere in San Clemente but hopes one day to relocate near the proposed project. “We get along with the Marines on the base, but moving so close is stepping on a few toes.”

But supporters of the project, clearly in the minority, contend the residents are prejudiced against military families.

“People in south Orange County are provincial,” said Charles Gullett, a retired Marine who lives in San Clemente, although not in the affected area, and looks forward to college-educated Marine officers moving close to town.

“People are comfortable with their lifestyle here and are not used to people from other reaches of the country,” Gullett said.

San Mateo Point is a 40-acre triangle of land on sprawling Camp Pendleton, which has been a Marine base since 1942. The site was once part of the late Richard Nixon’s Western White House compound when he was president.

As federal property, the city of San Clemente has no jurisdiction over what happens there.

And what’s happening, according to the Marines, is an effort to ease a serious and chronic housing shortage on base, where more than 30,000 Marines are stationed.

“There is a severe housing shortage on base,” said Marine Lt. David Steele, a base spokesman. “Thousands of families are on the waiting list.”

Although not required to consult civilian neighbors on the project, the Marine Corps a month ago asked the city and the adjacent homeowners associations for comments.

Further, the Corps says it’s taking special measures to make sure the project fits the community’s upscale look.

So far, the city Planning Commission has panned the project, endorsing a staff letter to the corps that says housing roughly 450 people there would not “constitute the highest and best use for the property.”

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On July 20, the City Council will vote whether to send the letter to the Pendleton brass. The letter says the military housing would cause the property values of adjacent homes to drop and that the new San Mateo residents may affect the city’s already limited recreation services.

The Marines have said the three- and four-bedroom units will blend in with the tony surrounding communities of Cyprus Cove, the Breakers, Cotton Point, and Cyprus Shore. They have also said that they plan to spend between $6 million and $10 million on the project, which is 7% more than is usually spent on military housing.

“The plans were developed to have housing in the best interests of all involved,” said Steele, noting the Corps has sought San Clemente’s opinion to help develop a project that neighbors can live with.

“The style of homes will be compatible with the upscale homes,” Steele said.

The plan calls for two-story buildings with stucco walls and tile roofs to mesh with San Clemente’s Spanish architecture, and the project would have open spaces, a jogging path and tot lots. Each unit also would have a two-car garage.

To avoid a cramped look, the military’s plan calls for a housing density of four units per acre, while the nearby communities have seven units per acre.

Eight of the 40 acres would be left in their natural state, and large canopy trees would be planted throughout the project to partially obscure the homes from the view of homeowners whose back windows overlook the land.

But those design elements have not assuaged upset neighbors, who accuse the Marine Corps of trying to ram the project through without taking their concerns into account.

“The Marines seem to have a fixed-bayonet attitude about it,” said attorney Paul Hegness, who represents the Cotton Point Homeowners’ Assn. “They feel, ‘It’s our property. We’ll do what we want.’ That doesn’t surprise me.”

Many San Clemente residents have questioned the decision to use the land for housing. Building the homes somewhere else on base, they argue, would save taxpayers’ money because the units wouldn’t have to be upgraded to complement the communities on San Clemente’s southern edge.

The housing proposal must still receive funding from the federal government before building can begin. The Marine Corps estimates the project would take from 12 to 18 months to complete.