San Juan Capistrano Plans Make Rounds : Redevelopment: Five designs for town center will be unveiled. Earlier plan fizzled in ‘80s.

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO —  In the late 1980s, when city officials proposed a 125-room hotel and a 70,000-square-foot retail complex for six acres downtown, some local folks came unglued.

Not only was the proposal perceived as overwhelming, it was also discovered that the project would sit over buried adobe foundations of historic significance, ruining part of the city’s revered past.

The plan withered under vocal opposition, then died.

Now the city is trying to get development going again on property for which it paid nearly $3 million.

But this time, officials have proceeded more deliberately, seeking advice from competing interests, such as preservationists and downtown business leaders.

Five conceptual proposals will be unveiled Thursday and Friday at two workshops. They range from a 28-room inn with 3,700 square feet of retail space, to a 46-room inn and 25,000 square feet of retail space.

Under two of the five versions, the Ortega Highway would be rerouted through town to make room for a pedestrian plaza in front of the Mission San Juan Capistrano. A 25-foot-tall parking structure might also be part of the mix.

Despite its smaller size, proposals for the project dubbed “Historic Town Center” could still divide people intensely interested in the future downtown of this city, one of California’s oldest.

Debate has gone on for nearly two decades over how to bring new life into an aged, Spanish-style downtown without wrecking its history.

“A lot of us have moved down here in the past 15 years because we want the small-town atmosphere,” said David Swerdlin, president of the Friends of Historic San Juan Capistrano. “That six acres is not going to make or break the city’s tax base. I think if we build (the center) with a high-intensity usage, we’ll resemble something like Mission Viejo or El Toro.”

But City Councilman Gil Jones, long a proponent for some sort of lodging on the property, said that residents are ready for a compromise.

Although the city would receive more tax revenue if the inn had 80 or 90 rooms, Jones said he is willing to support any “economically viable” alternative that includes the realignment of Ortega Highway.

City planners say a consultant has evaluated the numbers and found that all the proposals can turn a profit.

“It’s an embarrassment now,” Jones said of the land that has been waiting for a project. “It’s a massive parking lot and a bunch of dying trees. It’s disturbing to me that we yielded to a few people who didn’t want to see anything happen.”

During the past 18 months, several meetings have been held to hash out what various community interests want to see on the site that straddles El Camino Real, south of Ortega Highway.

In all five proposals, the two acres where the adobe foundations are located would become a passive, archeological city park for walking, sightseeing or education.

Residents are invited to attend the workshops to listen and jot down their comments for the city staff to consider. The Friday workshop is being held for those who can’t attend the one on Thursday.

So far, the City Council, which must ultimately decide which plan to choose, has stayed out of the fray, said Thomas Tomlinson, the city’s planning director.

“This is not a top-down project,” Tomlinson said.

Instead, a grass-roots process, which included several small working groups of seven or eight people, formed from sessions of 50 to 60, was undertaken to “pull the community together,” Tomlinson said.

But whether that happens won’t be known right away.

The council won’t vote on the project until as early as January. The project would then have to run the gantlet of city commissions and planning review--and find a developer to build it.

Councilman Gary L. Hausdorfer, who is stepping down after the Nov. 8 election, said city leaders must simply muster political will to move the project forward. The market--not a consultant--will decide if the plan can be done, he added.

“There’s a proper balance, and that’s what I’m after,” Hausdorfer said. “It’s easy to say no. It takes courage to say yes.”

Jones, who is up for reelection, said politics should not affect the center’s approval.

“I hope we’ve learned,” Jones said. “We’ve given due process its chance. I don’t believe in taking something that is sacred like our downtown area and making it a political volleyball.”