Planners Vote 3-2 to Back Aliso Viejo Fitness Center

Plans for a national physical fitness academy in Aliso Viejo cleared a major hurdle Monday when the Orange County Planning Commission voted for the idea, 3 to 2.

The narrow approval allows backers of the academy to present detailed plans for the 200-acre site to the commission and to apply to the state Coastal Commission and the county Board of Supervisors for approval, a process that could take four to six months.

The nonprofit academy straddling Aliso Creek on county property 2.5 miles from the ocean would train coaches and emphasize physical fitness programs for youths and senior citizens, said George Allen, former coach of the Los Angeles Rams and Washington Redskins.

Allen, chairman of the National Fitness Foundation, announced a year ago that Aliso Viejo had been chosen for the center over numerous other sites. But some proponents have warned recently that the academy might be located elsewhere because it was taking too long to get permits.

Grumbling on Board

Some members of the Board of Supervisors, in turn, grumbled about having spent nearly $70,000 on the project with no assurance it would be built at the Orange County site.

Allen has estimated the cost of the academy, complete with dormitory and playing fields, at $50 million, which he said he expects to raise primarily from corporations.

Allen said Monday’s vote and today’s expected approval by the Board of Supervisors of a rent-free lease option for the land would satisfy the project backers.

Allen repeated his desire to have the academy built in Orange County but said it was “frustrating to not beg but plead (for permission to build in Aliso Viejo) when you’ve got communities across the country welcoming us with open arms.”

President Reagan appointed Allen chairman of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, and Allen promised Reagan he would have the academy built before the President leaves office on Jan. 20, 1989. Reagan is expected to preside at the ground breaking.

Riley Makes Appearance

Supervisor Thomas F. Riley, whose district includes the site, made his first appearance before the Planning Commission in his more than 11 years as a supervisor to urge approval of the project.

“I believe the selection of Orange County for this project brings honor to the whole county and again points to the incredible convergence of activity that singles out Orange County among the counties in this nation,” Riley said.

Riley said Allen often reminded him “that there are potentially more than 300 different sites including sites in all of the 50 states for this facility. That Orange County was selected above all the various sites is an outstanding accomplishment for Orange County.”

But Jon Brand, mayor of Laguna Beach and a founder of the environmental organization Laguna Greenbelt, told the Planning Commission that the academy should be built elsewhere.

Brand, who plans to run against Riley for supervisor in this year’s election, said the Greenbelt area was supposed to be kept in a “pristine, unspoiled, unbuilt, no parking lot, no smog” condition, open to the public for hiking, picnicking and camping.

Private Foundation

Instead, a private foundation will be allowed to build a 250,000-square-foot building ranging from one to three stories, with athletic fields that can be used by the public only when the academy does not need them.

Planning Commissioner C. Douglas Leavenworth echoed some of Brand’s objections in voting against the project. The other “no” vote came from Commissioner George Osborne.

Laguna Beach City Manager Kenneth Frank also raised questions about the project but said the city had not taken a position on it. Sy Jones, president of the environmental group Village Laguna, questioned its location and warned that it could produce so much traffic that “you’re going to wind up with something like Sunset Boulevard meeting Pacific Coast Highway up in Los Angeles County, which is a major traffic mess on weekends.”

The county Environmental Management Agency had required that the foundation reposition the playing fields to reduce the impact on Aliso Creek and that it make them more accessible to the public. Addition of a second road to the property was allowed, but only if it is shortened and narrowed.

Planning Commissioner Thomas Moody objected to the second road and a 350-space parking lot beneath the main academy building, saying coaches attending the academy could park at the nearby Chet Holifield federal building and ride in by bus to reduce traffic.

But Moody said if that proves to be impractical, he will vote for on-site parking when the specific plans come back to the Planning Commission.