Politics & Government

Measure B: A Choice Between Very Dense Development or Development With Open Space

San Juan Capistrano City Council members Sam Allevato and Laura Freese write an analysis in favor of Measure B.

San Juan City Council members Sam Allevato and Laura Freese drafted this letter in favor of Measure B, the ballot initiative to reverse changes made to the development project near the , Distrito La Novia-San Juan Meadows:

We listened! Over a three-year period, during 30 public hearings, we heard you say you wanted a scaled-down plan for the Distrito La Novia-San Juan Meadows project, one that is less dense than the 1988 project, provide more open space, and be consistent with the unique character of our community.

The 1988 project consisted of 440 homes, a 300-room hotel, and a school or city hall. Because it has already been approved, it could be built now.

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The 2010 project consists of two sites:

  • Distrito La Novia: 18.7 acres, a mixed-use development, including a small commercial retail, small office building, and 130 residential units.
  • San Juan Meadows: 135.1 acres (which is across La Novia), 94 single-family detached homes and a state-of-the-art equestrian center.

The new plan is superior. It has 216 homes, preserves our small-town atmosphere, protects hundred of acres of open space, provides hiking and bike trails, adds a sidewalk on La Novia, includes much-needed community-friendly retail and jobs for our community.

Find out what's happening in San Juan Capistranowith free, real-time updates from Patch.

This new Distrito La Novia-Meadows project offers many benefits for our city, including property and sales tax revenues and major roadway improvements (I-5 and La Novia). It is supported by local and regional chambers of commerce and business organizations, such as the Orange County Taxpayers Association.

Don't let a few people hijack the process. Measure B is not a choice between NO development ever and some development now. It is a choice between a very dense development that has already been approved and a more modest one in which 62 percent of the project is open space. This new project will preserve our small-town equestrian lifestyle.

Join hundreds of your neighbors in voting YES on this community-friendly, economically beneficial project.

Coming up tomorrow: An argument against Measure B.

Read Patch's news coverage of Distrito La Novia-San Juan Meadows:


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