SAN CLEMENTE : Conceptual Approval Given Plaza Pacifica

Plaza Pacifica, a 600,000-square-foot commercial center that will be the city’s largest retail project, won conceptual approval last week from the Planning Commission.

The project, to be located near the corner of Avenida Pico and La Pata Avenue in the Rancho San Clemente area, will include a theater complex, a plaza area framed by a food court, and a multitude of retail shops and anchor stores with a Spanish architectural theme.

About 150 to 200 homes to be built on a slight grade above the retail center also are part of the design approved by the commission.

James S. Holloway, the city’s community development director, said the project will fill a need for commercial space in the city.

“We have long known that there is a tremendous retail sales tax leakage in the community,” Holloway said. “We did a market analysis and identified the need for 1.2 million to 1.5 million square feet of regional commercial shopping space to take care of the community’s needs for the next 15 years.”

Plaza Pacifica would be the largest commercial center in the city, about three times bigger than Ocean View Plaza adjacent to Avenida Pico near the Interstate 5 freeway.

Before any groundbreaking can occur, the project must be approved in concept by the City Council, and then more detailed drawings must go through the public hearing process before the commission and council, Holloway said.