Councilwoman Criticized in Permit Case

A Mission Viejo councilwoman faced criticism at City Hall this week for intervening in a developer’s request.

The developer sought--and obtained--a temporary occupancy permit for an office building at El Toro Road and Marguerite Parkway before all the required work had been completed.

City officials said the action could send the wrong message to developers of future projects.

The councilwoman, Gail Reavis, denies doing anything improper when she met with the developers last month. “I didn’t tell anybody to do anything,” she said.

No one alleges that Reavis had a conflict of interest or benefited in any way from her actions. But critics say she improperly used her position of authority to get the city staff to approve the permit.

“It isn’t unusual for a council member to inquire if a developer has a problem,” Councilwoman Sherri M. Butterfield said. “One of our jobs is to question the process. What was extremely unusual in this case was for a council person to intervene with a developer and bypass city process.”

At the time the company was issued the permit, it had yet to complete landscaping and access for people with disabilities or post a $490,000 bond that had been agreed upon when the three-story office building was approved in June 1999, said officials from the city and the company, Mission Viejo-based Mammoth Equities.

The bond serves as insurance for the city. If all required work is not completed, the city would use the money to finish the job.

Company officials said they delayed posting the bond because the amount was about double the cost of the landscaping work. And, they said, rain had prevented them from finishing the landscaping.

Charles Wilson, the city’s director of community development, met with company officials Tuesday for a progress report. Still remaining, he said, are the installation of handicapped access at the front entrance and the planting of palm trees and shrubs on a bank along one side of the building at 20532 El Toro Road.

Tucker Lewis, Mammoth Equities’ senior vice president, said he and another company executive met with Reavis on March 8 because he was having problems working with city staff.

Reavis said she tried to act as a mediator.

She said the temporary permit was agreed to by both the city and the developer. The permit, she said, was “signed off” by the city’s community development director. “If there was a problem, then he should have stopped it,” she said.

But City Manager Dan Joseph said Reavis’ actions broke from the regular city process. Such decisions, he said, should be made by himself or the Planning Commission, and only after all necessary bonds and safety issues have been met.

Joseph said he will offer a report on the matter to the City Council at its next meeting, May 7.