SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO : Auto Dealership Site Proposal Is Rejected

The City Council has nixed a proposal for an automobile dealership on part of an 11.6-acre parcel along Interstate 5.

A majority of council members said Tuesday they would not support the idea being floated by a landowner who is expected to seek a zoning change that would also allow for a storage business and other commercial uses at the site.

The parcel is considered the city’s northern gateway, straddling the east side of Interstate 5 near Rancho Viejo Road.

“I think we want this to be a statement of the city,” Mayor Carolyn Nash said of any project built on the land. “I don’t think a car dealership is what we want to say to the world.”

Most council members agreed.

The city in 1991 approved a plan for a 140,000-square-foot office complex on the parcel. The land is zoned for offices, churches and public or semi-public buildings.

But a sluggish economy and recent grading for the San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor have prompted landowner Ronald Soldering to look for alternatives, said project architect Stewart Woodard.

Woodard told the council that representatives from Lexus automobiles had made inquiries about building a dealership on 2.5 acres of the parcel. Woodard said the company preferred a spot away from the cluster of auto dealers at the city’s southern end.

To address concerns raised by council members about the storage business, Soldering said he would propose a building that blends in with the city’s architecture.

The council voted unanimously to allow Soldering to do a general plan amendment study. Any zoning changes will require council approval.