Coastal Commission Will Rule on Marblehead Project in San Clemente

The California Coastal Commission will decide today whether to allow a developer to turn 250 acres of sandstone bluffs and coastal canyons in San Clemente into a tony housing development and upscale shopping center.

Once proposed as the site for the Nixon Library, Marblehead bluffs is among the last large, undeveloped coastal parcels in Southern California. Previous proposals to develop the site have faced major opposition from the Coastal Commission, a state panel that regulates development along California’s 1,100-mile coastline.

San Clemente officials, who are counting on the commercial development to generate sales-tax revenue, are guardedly optimistic the plan will win approval.

“I’m definitely hopeful. I’d be bitterly disappointed if it’s not” approved, said Jim Holloway, community development director. “It’s a great-looking plan.”

The Lusk Co.’s current proposal, which calls for 313 homes, 675,243 square feet of commercial development and 2.2 million cubic yards of grading, is pared significantly from previous plans and is the first proposal the commission’s staff has recommended. The plan sets aside 105 acres for open space, trails and parks.

Karl Schwing, a commission analyst who evaluated the proposal, said there are significant changes in the current plan, including less development, reduced grading, eliminating impacts to rare flora such as coastal sage scrub and Blochman’s dudleya, and keeping development out of wetlands and most canyons.

“It’s a significantly changed project and one that we believe is, with the condition we’re imposing, consistent with the Coastal Act,” he said.

The commission staff has recommended nearly three dozen special conditions, including water-quality protection that would stop urban runoff from flowing into the ocean, buffers that would keep development out of fragile habitats, and limits on lighting and building heights.

Schwing said Lusk has agreed to most of the conditions, though there are a handful of unresolved issues. Chief among them are plans to cut through a bluff to lay sewer and storm drain lines, and the creation of a grassy picnic area in a wildlife corridor. These issues will be discussed at the meeting today in Santa Barbara.

Longtime critic Mark Massara, coastal programs director with the Sierra Club, approves of the new proposal.

“It’s unfortunate that the city has embraced such high intensity development, [but] it’s certainly an improvement. It’s really encouraging,” he said.

The commercial project, pictured as an outdoor upscale shopping mall similar to the Carlsbad Co. Stores or Fashion Island, is expected to generate $2 million a year in sales taxes, city officials have said.

The developer also has agreed to spend $1.5 million for beach improvements, $1 million for downtown improvements, $1 million for a new senior center and $250,000 to expand the library.