San Clemente OKs 4,965-Home Project in Talega Valley

Conceding they can’t keep thousands of new residents from converging on their once-secluded coastal hamlet, city officials in San Clemente on Wednesday approved a development agreement that will flood the Talega Valley on the city’s northeastern edge with thousands of new houses, golf links, offices and parks.

At the same time, the City Council tried to settle a 20-year-old debate over San Clemente’s last remaining large coastal parcel. Council members cast split votes on a series of ordinances to move ahead on the controversial 250-acre Marblehead Coastal development, a complex of houses and stores, but without a proposed Target store as an anchor.

Angry residents formed a standing-room-only crowd to oppose the Marblehead plan. But the proposed Talega community, which offered San Clemente hundreds of acres of open space and lucrative development fees in addition to 4,965 houses and commercial areas, faced virtually no opposition and was approved unanimously by council members. It will add more than 10,000 people to the city of fewer than 50,000.

“This is a tremendous, tremendous project,” Councilwoman Lois R. Berg said of Talega. “I believe the benefits will outweigh the increased numbers that will come, and they are coming.”

Talega is a 3,510-acre stretch of South County hills that has changed hands three times since the mid-1980s. It now is owned by a partnership of California home builders, Standard Pacific Corp. of Costa Mesa and Catellus Residential Group of Irvine.

The development agreement approved Wednesday assures the builders that the city can’t withdraw or drastically downsize plans for the Talega community, and locks the developers into a complex system of fees, taxes and open-space requirements.

Two-thirds of the 3,510 acres will be left as open space, including a 1,172-acre land conservancy, a golf course, trails and other parks.

The developers will pay for up to $27 million in road improvements, including an Interstate 5 freeway interchange at Avenida Vista Hermosa. They also will pay San Clemente more than $36 million in fees for parks, sewers, a fire station and other public facilities, an amount that is $25 million above normal city charges. Developers also will build a K-8 school.

“When you look at the fees we’ll get from this program, that extra $25 million goes a long way toward improving our streets, improving our community, improving the quality of life for people in our community,” Councilman Patrick M. Ahle said.