Hicks Terrific on Casa Romantica

Jerry Hicks wrote a terrific column, “Casa Romantica Not on the Menu,” Dec. 6, about our historic landmark icon not being turned into a Mexican restaurant.

This is a very important part of our heritage and in the middle of a residential neighborhood. A restaurant of any type will not dignify the heritage of our founder, Ole Hanson, or the wishes of a majority of opinion in San Clemente.

There is one clarification I wish to make about the column. It was not the council nor the city that put the brakes on a Disneyland- or Universal Studios-type of congested development in the pier bowl. It was the residents who stood up to the city-sponsored development and made it very clear that this plan was totally unacceptable.

The most interesting aspect of this current plan is that there has not been an independent economic feasibility study done to determine if a restaurant would be successful at that location.

When questioned about that basic business deficiency, San Clemente’s current community development director stated that if the developer had the money and experience, that was feasibility enough for him. No wonder that our city is in such dire economic straits, with that type of business sense.

G. WAYNE EGGLESTON

Executive director

The Heritage of San Clemente

& Visitor Center