Saddleback/South Beach : SAN CLEMENTE : Council to Weigh Plan for Pier Bowl Development

Plans have been submitted for an estimated $15.6-million development on the scenic bluffs overlooking the city pier, including the historic Casa Romantica.

The proposal calls for converting Casa Romantica into a restaurant and building time-share condominiums and retail shops in the Pier Bowl area. The City Council will take a first look at the plans tonight but is not expected to vote until public hearings are held.

The biggest task before the two developers--Continental Commercial Corp. and Riverside Commercial Investors Inc.--may be convincing a dubious public, which four years ago caused a similar proposal to be scuttled.

City officials, however, say the new plans are far less dense than the 1990 project submitted by the Ratkovich Co., which prompted hundreds of residents to attend meetings and speak up out of fear that their quiet, seaside atmosphere would be shattered.

“I guarantee you that the scale of this project is far smaller than Ratkovich,” said Jim Pechous, assistant city planner. “The uses are the same, but the density isn’t even close. Much less than half, I’d say.”

But opponents of the proposal are already lining up.

“It might be just as controversial” as the Ratkovich project, said Karolyn Koester, a former mayor and community activist. “We don’t want the Casa Romantica to be a restaurant, people (living near the project site) just don’t want commercial property below them.

“Basically, the city just wants the money that this would bring in,” Koester said.

City officials said that money is important, but far down the list of priorities in developing the Pier Bowl.

“There’s no denying we’d like to see economic development,” City Manager Michael W. Parness said, “but our first priority is to preserve quality of that area, particularly the Casa Romantica.”