Wal-Mart Welcomed for Shopping, Taxes

San Clemente has a problem. It’s small, located at the very edge of Orange County and is about 20 miles north of its nearest southern neighbor, Oceanside.

Little wonder that the city has been considered too remote for a major retail center.

So the announcement that Wal-Mart will anchor a 77-acre shopping plaza here has city officials feeling that they have fulfilled a long-standing mission to give residents a place to shop.

“This is certainly a giant shot in the arm for us,” said Councilman Scott Diehl, who noted that city planners estimate the proposed Plaza Pacifica shopping center, to be located at Avenida Pico and Avenida La Pata, will bring in about $1 million in annual sales tax revenue.

It’s welcome news for a city with a chronic sales tax revenue problem that is worsened, studies show, by the fact that more than half its residents shop out of town.

“That has been a problem for the city,” Diehl said. “But Wal-Mart is a well-recognized company and once these projects get a major tenant, other businesses tend to follow.”

The project’s developer, Costa Mesa-based Ramser Companies, also announced the signing of several other tenants for the shopping center, including Petco and Applebee’s Bar and Grill.

With 45,000 people now living in San Clemente and populations growing in nearby communities, Wal-Mart was persuaded to open a 100,000-square-foot store.

Future plans for Plaza Pacifica include a 12- to 14-screen movie complex that would become the only theater in San Clemente, several 25,000- to 40,000-square-foot department stores, a supermarket and a drugstore.

Developers also are planning a 130,000-square-foot corporate park and a 162-unit housing tract. Groundbreaking for the shopping complex is expected to take place by early 1997.