A Right Turn for El Toro Road?

After more than three years of redevelopment efforts, Lake Forest’s dream of revitalizing its deteriorated business district along El Toro Road--one of Orange County’s most congested thoroughfares--may be heading toward reality.

The owners of the largest of several malls on the traffic-choked street are working with the city to renovate the largely vacant shopping center. A boarded-up movie house across the street is being turned into an upscale gym. And a retail giant that pulled out of the area nearly a decade ago--leaving behind a hulking shell of a building at the gateway to the city--may be returning.

The renewed business interest in El Toro Road is heartening to city officials, who have found the going tough. Once a South County draw, the stretch has become a major route for commuters heading to neighboring towns. As traffic has thickened, shoppers have deserted the area and businesses have gone elsewhere.

“Twenty-five years ago, this was a booming area,” said Michelle Selzer, who owns Hair Associates salon, one of the businesses still holding on in Saddleback Valley Plaza. “I grew up in Mission Viejo, and when I was a kid, this was the place to hang out. Now, people just try to avoid it.”

City officials have spent several years drafting a formal redevelopment plan for a three-mile stretch of the road to the east of Interstate 5. They secured $9.1 million to widen the street, synchronize signals, and add walkways and landscaping. They also developed a set of design guidelines for all the commercial buildings.

But even six months ago, these goals seemed out of reach. Property owners along the route weren’t embracing the plan.

One cluster of business owners off Jeronimo Road, at the eastern edge of the redevelopment area, formed its own group to fight the plan, fearing it would put them out of business. Several developers expressed interest in buying Saddleback Valley Plaza, but negotiations fell apart each time. All the while, more tenants pulled out of the mall. And discussions to lure Kmart back to the boarded-up building it deserted years ago at the north corner of Rockfield Boulevard and El Toro Road went nowhere.

“They kept saying they wanted to be here,” said Kathy Graham, the city’s community development director. “There just has always been other things that have kept them from doing anything about it.”

In recent months, Kmart officials have come up with a design plan that mirrors the city’s vision for the area. The city wants new buildings, brick walkways that lead pedestrians from one shopping center to the next, palm-lined medians and a wider, reconfigured El Toro Road.

Kmart’s plan will be considered by the Planning Commission this month and construction could begin early next year.

And rather than sell, the owners of Saddleback Valley Plaza are considering redeveloping the site themselves in hopes of wooing large, national chain stores. They hope to bring in a specialty food store and a bookstore--things the city is short on.

“We are working on all those different angles right now, but we are definitely excited about it,” said Charles Smith, president of Westrust Co., one of several owners of the property.

Across the road, the city sees the addition of Bally Total Fitness as a chance to breathe new life into the Twin Peaks mall, also stuck with empty storefronts. Bally is gutting a closed Edwards movie theater to put in its gym, and city officials hope that once it opens, more businesses will follow.

Even the disgruntled property owners who feared they’d be run out have begun working with the city, forming a business improvement district to address some of the city’s aesthetic concerns with their industrial area.

But, many say, unless the city gets going on the street improvements, El Toro Road will fail to win back customers and businesses again will flee.

“People don’t want to use it,” said resident Griff Hill, who moved to Lake Forest five years ago. “When I lived in Irvine, I wouldn’t come down El Toro Road because it’s known for having extremely tough traffic conditions.”

More than 45,000 cars pass through the city’s redevelopment area every day, said Lake Forest engineer Bob Woodings. That figure is expected to nearly double over the next 15 to 20 years.

The city has hired a consultant to survey the street and conduct environmental studies--a first step toward coming up with a design plan. The city will hold a series of workshops to hear from residents before adopting a final plan. The process is slow, however. It could be two years before construction begins, Woodings said.

Lake Forest isn’t the only city pouring money into El Toro Road. Laguna Hills is adding turn lanes where the road intersects Avenida de la Carlota, and Mission Viejo is widening the road from the Foothill toll road to Glenn Ranch Road.

El Toro Road “is a major artery for moving traffic east-west, through Lake Forest, Mission Viejo and on up to Silverado Canyon,” said Susan Withrow, a board member of the Orange County Transportation Authority and a Mission Viejo councilwoman.

Though Lake Forest officials are optimistic about the new developments, they are careful not to become too confident.

“It’s still a lofty goal,” said Graham, the community development director. “But we have an opportunity to change the area from a sea of asphalt to . . . a major gateway to the community.”