San Juan City Council Opposes Tollway Review : Transportation: Though vote stopped short of rejecting the project, it adds momentum to anti-corridor movement.

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO —  After receiving petitions bearing the signatures of 3,000 residents opposed to the San Joaquin Hills tollway, the City Council formally objected to the highway’s environmental review but stopped short of calling for an end to the project.

Council members said they would wait to see if highway planners address their concerns about traffic, noise and other issues at two hearings before deciding whether to overturn a 1985 vote in support of the toll road.

But their 3-0 vote on Tuesday disapproving of the environmental impact report created a crack in what had been a solid wall of support among the nine cities and two county supervisorial districts that are building the project as members of the Transportation Corridor Agencies.

Tollway opponents in neighboring Laguna Beach took heart from the council’s action.

“They certainly think there are things that need to be addressed, which is encouraging,” Laguna Beach Mayor Neil Fitzpatrick said. Laguna Beach is the only South County city that did not join the corridor board because it opposes the toll road, which would cut through the heart of scenic Laguna Canyon.

Voting to oppose the impact report were Mayor Kenneth E. Friess and council members Jeff Vasquez and Gil Jones. Councilmen Lawrence F. Buchheim and Gary L. Hausdorfer did not vote because of potential conflicts of interest.

Friess and Hausdorfer, both strong supporters of the tollway, dismissed speculation that rejection of the draft report implies the council disapproves of the project. The report, they said, is only one component of the project and it can be changed to meet the concerns of opponents.

But Vasquez said that as far as he is concerned, voting against the environmental report is the same as voting against the entire project.

“In the last 30 days we have come a long way in terms of really gauging the public’s perception of this and their feelings of whether (the corridor) stands to be a transportation solution,” Vasquez said, referring to the petitions.

Friess downplayed the significance of the petitions, saying he could probably collect the same amount “to rename God if I said the right things.” But he conceded that the council’s vote added momentum to the anti-corridor movement.

That movement is growing as the Feb. 14 and 28 hearings on the environmental review approach. On March 14, the Transportation Corridor Agencies is scheduled to certify the final report.

Friess is San Juan’s representative on the agency, which is a coalition of city and county officials. If the environmental review does not satisfy San Juan’s interests, Friess said, he will vote against certifying the document.

“Until such time as the TCA staff and their consultants are able to address the issues that our city has, then our city cannot take a position in support of certification,” the mayor said.

A spokeswoman for the corridor agency said staff members are attempting to answer San Juan’s concerns.

Friess said it is difficult to predict how the council will ultimately view the corridor. As it stands now, he and Hausdorfer support the project, Vasquez opposes it, and Jones has serious concerns about the environmental review.

Buchheim owns property along the corridor route and is disqualified from voting on the issue. Hausdorfer, whose wife is an executive with a planning firm active in seeking transportation-related contracts, said Tuesday night that he abstained to avoid any appearance of conflict of interest.

A majority of the council could be expected to oppose the project if agency officials choose to connect the 17-mile-long toll road with Interstate 5 at a point on the northern edge of the city.

While Friess supports a route farther north, that option is opposed by Laguna Niguel Mayor Patricia C. Bates because it would dislocate businesses in that city.

Bates said she hopes corridor agency officials come up with a compromise before her council votes on the environmental statement. That vote will occur after the agency holds its public hearings on the project.