Developers Challenging Moratorium

Fearing a sweeping moratorium on development in San Juan Capistrano may be emulated by other cities in Southern California, developers have filed suit against the once-secluded mission town that now struggles to preserve the charm that sets it apart from a sea of surrounding suburbs.

In early June, San Juan Capistrano officials passed an ordinance that would ban big commercial projects and subdivisions of more than 50 houses until the city’s 24-year-old General Plan could be updated. In late July, they extended the ban 10 months and 15 days, essentially putting a freeze on new development plans until next June.

But developers accused the City Council of acting out of political pressure from constituents opposed to a specific building project, not out of an emergency situation, as state law requires.

“We are simply asking the court to tell the city that it has to play by the same rules everyone else does,” said Nick Cammarota of the Building Industry Assn. of Southern California.

City Manager George Scarborough said the city acted legally in June when it declared that it needed to hold up new projects until its 1974 General Plan, enacted when the town was largely surrounded by farms and pastures, could be updated.

Developers want an Orange County Superior Court judge to instruct the city to set aside the moratorium and resume processing development applications. The lawsuit was filed by the Building Industry Legal Defense Foundation and Concorde Development of Irvine. The Building Industry Legal Defense Foundation is the litigation arm of the Building Industry Assn. of Southern California, a builder trade and lobbying group.

Concorde Development planned to seek approval on Whispering Hills, a planned 350-unit subdivision on the eastern edge of San Juan Capistrano. The lawsuit said city officials devised the moratorium as a way to shelve construction during an election year after opposition materialized.

Cammarota said Whispering Hills could be considered because no approvals would be needed for nine months to a year--after the moratorium expires. “It wouldn’t even come up before the Planning Commission,” he said.

Wyatt Hart, the councilman who spearheaded the moratorium, said he was “surprised and disappointed” that developers are taking the city to court because a General Plan update would benefit them as well.

“The development industry tells us all the time they want to come to our community and be a part of our community and fit into our community and help alleviate our problems,” Hart said. “If you want to be part of our community, you should want things to go in the right direction for the city.”

Residents are concerned about several other large projects, including a proposed shopping center and a Home Depot.

“We seniors here welcomed the moratorium. We threw our hats in the air,” said Jack Heath, who is concerned about a proposed Home Depot in the southern part of the city. “We need time for the city to think this through and look at alternatives.”

Heath said the large building project pose health and safety risks for senior citizens living in the Capistrano Valley Mobile Home Estates along San Juan Creek. “There would be an intrusion of dirt, dust, diesel fuel, noise, lights--many people have heart problems or asthmatic conditions that would be affected,” Heath said.