Council sees pet projects at Aliso site

City officials who are seeking a site for a community theater think they may have found the perfect spot.

The theater was spotlighted at the Aliso Creek Area Plan Project scoping session held May 19, among the requests the council members asked to have included in the draft environmental report being prepared for the project.

“I was on the Coastal Commission for two years and what I learned is that development does bring community benefits,” Councilwoman Toni Iseman said, “I hope we realize we can ask for things.”

Major “things” requested by city officials included a parking structure with a performing arts theater and parking structure on adjacent county land, a stand-alone theater and meeting facility, a project already in the pipeline to clean up Aliso Creek and an environmently sensitive golf course design.

Mayor Pro Tem Cheryl Kinsman and Councilman Kelly Boyd were appointed by the council to research possible sites theater sites. They feel Aliso Canyon is an appropriate location.

“It needs to be on property owned by the city or by a city/private partnership so we can control the dates — that’s the problem our wonderful performing arts groups are having now,” Kinsman said.

Another problem is finding a big enough property for a theater.

“We need a 350-seat facility,” said Chris Quilter, a member of No Square Theatre Board of Directors. “We are talking about a community use of a portion of the project that will have impacts that need to be measured.”

There were intimations that Boyd would prefer a theater to a reconstruction of the Thurston farm house built by his ancestors who homesteaded the canyon. But he declined to make any comment until the draft EIR is completed.

Councilwoman Elizabeth Pearson Schneider put in a plug for the county’s SUPER Project to clean up Aliso Creek, for which she has lobbied locally and in Washington D.C.

“And I agree with Toni that this is an opportunity for additional public parking and shuttle service,” Pearson Schneider said.

Iseman and Pearson Schneider have partnered in promoting peripheral parking to relieve vehicle traffic in the downtown, where parking is at a premium.

“The other thing we need to be cognizant of is the maximization of water use,” Pearson Schneider said. Water would have to be de-salted before it could be used to irrigate the golf course, as has been done for other resorts and recommended by members of the public. The Aliso Creek Golf Course used potable water for irrigation, according to Devora Hertz.

“There is recycled water but it is being sold to a private course,” Hertz said.

Mayor Jane Egly requested a breakdown in costs compared to benefits. She also would prefer to see the separate EIRS for the Aliso Canyon and the nearby Aliso Lots projects and a close look at the safety of the access to the canyon.

Commission input

The scoping session was held at a joint meeting of the council and the Planning Commission. The commission will review the draft EIR before it comes back to the council for certification. The draft will include the comments made by the public, the council and commissioners at the scoping sessions but not necessarily evaluate all of the alternatives proposed.

“We need to talk about how we go about crafting alternatives,” Commission Rob Zur Schmiede said.

Alternatives can be added after the draft EIR is presented to the commission, when more information is available, Commissioner Norm Grossman said.

“If we try to craft alternatives now, we are shooting in the dark,” Grossman said. “We’re not smart enough right now.

But he did want to talk about the city’s objectives for the project. The city’s first goal was to provide visitor serving/resort commercial uses on the site.

“Once you say ‘resort/commercial’ that’s what it is and I am not sure what it means,” Grossman said. “We should have a conversation about objectives.”

None ensued.

Commissioner Linda Dietrich said she would like to see consideration of an “Audubon Golf Course.”

“The Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program is an award-winning education and certification program to help golf courses protect the environment and preserve the natural heritage of the game of golf,” according to the web site. “By helping people enhance the valuable natural areas and wildlife habitats that golf courses provide, improve efficiency and minimize potentially harmful impact of golf operations, the ASCP serves as a vital resource for golf courses.”

Dietrich also said severing the reports for the Aliso canyon and former Driftwood Estate lots projects should be considered.

Commissioner Anne Johnson said the EIR should honor the canyon history.

“There is a lack of local documents in the EIR [notice of preparation].” Johnson said. “Maybe we could have a small museum. The canyon embodies our history.”

The draft EIR is expected to be completed later this year, which will provide another opportunity for public and official comments.

BARBARA DIAMOND can be reached at (949) 494-4321 or coastlinepilot@latimes.com.