SAN CLEMENTE : Council Rejects Plan to Halt Development

The City Council on Wednesday rejcted a proposal to adopt an “urgency ordinance” that would have placed a moratorium on new, large-scale development and would have stopped the demolition of historic buildings in the city’s Pier Bowl area.

Instead, the council voted 4 to 1 not to approve any amendments to the city’s General Plan until a detailed specific plan for future development in the area is completed. An amendment to the General Plan is usually needed to approve large-scale developments.

“I think a moratorium does send out a very negative message,” Councilman Scott Diehl said. “I do not feel one is necessary to accomplish our goal.”

City officials said the main reason for the proposed moratorium is that conceptual plans have been submitted for a 123-room luxury hotel with a proposed height that is inconsistent with plans being developed for the area by the Pier Bowl Task Force. The task force is a subcommittee of the city’s General Plan Advisory Committee, which currently is developing a plan for future development in the city.

“I think the council has been able to accomplish what we need to accomplish without enacting a moratorium,” said Steve Apodaca, chairman of the task force. “The planning process should guide the development process, not the other way around. This still allows small-scale development to go forward.

The proposed moratorium was opposed by Robert Laidlaw, owner of the Beachcomber Motel who had submitted plans for the luxury hotel at 583 Avenida Victoria.

Laidlaw has contended that even a short delay would ruin his project by creating “a financial disaster that the project cannot absorb.”

His architect, Bruce D. Jordan, criticized the council after its vote. He said that although the council did not pass a moratorium, the decision not to approve any amendments to the General Plan will essentially have the same effect on the hotel project as a moratorium.

“This sends a very negative message that they are not interested in a partnership,” said Jordan, who said about $300,000 has already been spent on preliminary plans for the hotel.

“During the initial stages, there was never any comment from anyone in the city that we shouldn’t move forward,” Jordan said. “This came out of left field.”

Councilman Thomas Lorch, the lone dissenting vote, said he favored enacting the moratorium.