San Juan Capistrano’s Building Ban Upheld

To the dismay of developers, an Orange County judge Wednesday upheld San Juan Capistrano’s temporary ban on large business and home projects.

The moratorium, which the City Council passed in June and extended in July, prohibits major commercial construction or subdivisions of more than 50 houses until June. City officials said the law was needed for orderly development while they update San Juan Capistrano’s 24-year-old General Plan.

Developers, maintaining that the moratorium is unconstitutional and politically motivated, filed a lawsuit last month to overturn it.

But in her ruling, Superior Court Judge Barbara Tam Nomoto Schumann sided with city officials, who had argued that the small beach town is fast approaching its development capacity and that the moratorium is essential to developing a new General Plan that preserves its character.

Schumann’s ruling is preliminary but likely to stand when she makes a final judgment in about three weeks, said Robert McMurry, one of the attorneys representing the Building Industry Legal Defense Foundation, which filed the lawsuit. The group is the litigation arm of the Building Industry Assn. of Southern California, a trade and lobbying group.

McMurry said the plaintiffs have not decided whether to appeal the ruling.

San Juan Capistrano officials, meanwhile, were ecstatic.

“It’s a great gift for the city on Thanksgiving Day,” Councilman Dave Swerdlin said. “The city had a strong case, and I’m very happy that we prevailed.”

The city in the past has temporarily banned development of drive-thru fast-food restaurants, gas stations with minimarkets and check-cashing establishments.

Nick Cammarota, general counsel for the building industry group, said that, regardless of Wednesday’s court ruling, San Juan Capistrano cannot halt expansion in the long run.

“People recognize that viable economic development is important,” he said.

As the city reviews its General Plan, Cammarota said, a broader spectrum of citizens will participate in the debate, and they may lobby for certain types of development is some areas.

Cammarota reiterated the trade group’s position that the moratorium was politically motivated. He said the City Council caved to pressure from residents next to the site proposed for a 350-unit subdivision on the eastern edge of the city. The developer of that project, Concorde Development of Irvine, was a co-plaintiff in the lawsuit.

City Manager George Scarborough took issue with that.

“Anyone aware of the changes and growth in the city would know that is stupid,” he said. “The battle to keep San Juan the city we love is not over. . . . We need to ensure we have a General Plan that will protect the city into the future.”