DANA POINT : Additional Acreage Acquired for Park

The Capistrano Bay Park and Recreation District’s recent acquisition of a 2.8-acre parcel of land on Stonehill Drive at San Juan Creek will allow the district to create a nearly seven-acre park in the area, district officials said.

After several months of negotiation, the district Board of Directors last week unanimously approved the $1.8-million purchase of the parcel from the Gordon family of Dana Point. The land, which was zoned by the city for residential use, was originally listed for $2.1 million, said Lynn Muir, a park board director.

The purchase was the district’s fourth purchase of parkland this year, Muir said.

“We are now almost at the point that we don’t have a deficiency of parkland any longer,” Muir said. “We have to keep up our acquisition of parkland as our population increases.”

Muir said the district plans to use the Stonehill Drive property for “some kind of active use” such as tennis courts, basketball courts or a soccer field.

The park district, which is an independent agency that oversees all parkland in the city of Dana Point, is expected to gain title from the county to another four acres of property next to the 2.8-acre property. The county parcel is available because the county has decided to abandon the proposed extension of Alipaz Street, said Director Robert Wilberg.