Politics & Government
City Ready to Ditch 2009 Open Space Agreement at Rancho Capistrano
A new agreement would put 95 acres of open space under the ownership of Continuing Life Communities, the developers of an assisted living center for seniors at the ranch property.
With some contingencies, the City Council said on Tuesday it's ready to trash a two-year-old agreement that gives it the option to buy more than 100 acres at for public recreation.
Under a new proposal, the land would still be preserved as open space, but there would be less of it. Additionally, the property would be purchased by .
Although the 2009 agreement would have given the city the 20-acre plot currently used for soccer, Mayor Sam Allevato said Tuesday that the city just doesn't have the $10 million needed to purchase the entire acreage.
Find out what's happening in San Juan Capistranowith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Former city councilman Mark Neilson, who helped negotiate the 2009 agreement, said the 20 acres are the "real value" of the future open space. The fields are flat and can actually be used for recreation, unlike the hilly slopes and nearby citrus grove, he said.
Continuing Life Communities asked the council to rescind the 2009 agreement because it needs the extra acreage to finance building an access route into Rancho Capistrano.
Find out what's happening in San Juan Capistranowith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Troy Bourne, vice president of Continuing Life Communities, has said he's close to reaching a deal with to allow access via Star Drive, near the oddly-shaped intersection of Paseo de la Colina and Camino Capistrano.
Under the old agreement, the city agreed to help CLC convert a private railroad crossing at Camino Capistrano into a public one for an access route into the ranch. That plan was thwarted by the California Public Utilities Commission.
The city's revocation of the 2009 agreement will be contingent upon CLC successfully completing its negotiations with the auto dealer and the city of Laguna Niguel, as well as any other outside agencies.
Under the ownership of CLC, 95 acres will be set aside for open space: 40 for citrus trees and 50 acres of hillsides.
The new agreement would also cut CLC's ties to the troubled Community Redevelopment Agency, which would have likely been the funding source for the $10 million payment for 116 acres.
The fate of redevelopment agencies across California is uncertain, as they face possible annihilation in the state's latest budget. In August, the City Council said it was unable to make a decision about the open space issues because the California Supreme Court has
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