Investment in Posterity Pays Off in 6 Years

In April 1990, the people of San Juan Capistrano did something unprecedented in their 221-year history: They voted by a 71% majority to tax themselves to buy farmland to preserve the area’s rustic charm.

“It was an incredible accomplishment,” said Gary L. Hausdorfer, a former longtime council member who as mayor introduced the idea of a bond measure to residents in 1989. “This was the first and only time in the history of the city that people endorsed taxing themselves.”

Now, more than six years after approving that historic $21-million bond measure--which enabled the city to buy 130 acres for parkland--residents will see the first tangible results.

Today, the city celebrates the grand opening of its $2.5-million San Juan Capistrano Sports Park, built with taxpayer dollars on the 56-acre Kinoshita Farm acquired through the bond measure.

“The citizens have basically owned this property since 1990,” Mayor Wyatt Hart said. “Now, they will finally be able to use it.”

*

When residents walk onto what was once part of a strawberry farm, they will find a gleaming 18-acre sports park with four soccer fields, one lighted softball field, another lighted baseball field with covered seating for 200 spectators, and a central plaza with benches, restrooms and a concession stand.

In addition, the park includes a public garden with 77 plots that can be leased by residents for raising vegetables, flowers and other plants.

“I’m tremendously thrilled,” said Marlene Draper, who as former chairwoman of the nonprofit San Juan Citizens for Open Space worked with other community groups to get the bond measure approved so that the city could preserve rapidly dwindling open space. “It’s truly the people’s park.”

Since the bond was issued, the average homeowner has been paying about $150 a year to pay it off, said Cynthia Pendleton, administrative services director.

Besides producing the sports park, it also enabled the city to purchase another 73 acres of agricultural land in the northwest section of town, most of which will be used in the future for recreation such as horseback riding, hiking and community events.

In addition, the city is poised to build a $1.8-million community center next to the sports park. Design plans are being reviewed by city officials, who expect construction on the center to begin by April 1997 and be completed by December 1997.

To mark residents’ commitment to preserving open space, the city is spending $14,500 for a celebration on the Fourth of July. The free event, which starts at 2 p.m., features live entertainment, rides, contests, exhibition sports games, food booths and fireworks--as well as a dedication ceremony to name the baseball field in honor of Hausdorfer.

“Mayor Hausdorfer was really the first one in the community to broach the concept of a bond measure,” City Manager George Scarborough said. “It was his vision that was instituted.”

But were it not for the residents who voted for the bond measure, the park would never have been built.

“The citizens voted for this program,” Hart said. “They attended all the workshops. They voted for the bond issue. They’re the ones who paid for it. All the credit goes to the citizens.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Field of Teams

San Juan Capistrano’s new sports park will combine athletic facilities with more low- impact opportunities. A look at the new complex:

Facilities

* Four soccer fields

* Lighted softball field

* Lighted baseball field with seating for 200 people.

* Central plaza with benches, restrooms, concession area.

* 77 garden plots for lease to residents.

Source: City of San Juan Capistrano; Researched by JULIE FATE SULLIVAN / For The Times