SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO : Council Overturns Permit on Appeal
The City Council has killed a proposal to build a car wash/gas station and retail space downtown.
A permit for the car wash/gas station on a 1.44-acre site at 27000 Ortega Highway was approved in May by the city’s Planning Commission. But a resident filed an appeal to the council, citing traffic problems and aesthetic concerns.
The council voted 3 to 1 Tuesday night to uphold the appeal, thus denying the permit. Councilman Gil Jones cast the only vote in favor of the project. Councilman Jeff Vasquez was absent.
Jones said that turning down the development plan, which also called for nearly 7,500 square feet of retail space fronting on Del Obispo Street, sends the wrong signal to a struggling business community.
Mayor Collene Campbell said a different type of development would be more suitable. She pledged that the city would work with the landowner.
Campbell disagreed with some of the project’s opponents who said it would not blend with the area, which is close to historical buildings, but dotted with fast-food restaurants.
The parcel has been unoccupied for about four years, according to Thomas Tomlinson, the city’s director of planning services.
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