By Jim Shilander
The project manager for Olen Development Corporation’s proposed three-story mixed-use development on El Camino Real, next to the old City Hall, said the company has abandoned the project, citing “the city’s broken and arduous discretionary approval process.”
Mark Zonarich said in an email Thursday that the company decided to abandon the project officially on Wednesday after three years of work. He noted that the project had met or exceeded all of the city’s ordinances and guidelines.
“It is extremely disappointing that the citizens of San Clemente have lost out on an incredible project in our downtown,” Zonarich said. “As a professional planner, I must admit that this process has been extraordinarily disheartening and excessively laborious. I have worked for municipalities across the country as a consultant and never have I experienced such blatant opposition when a project has complied with and exceeded the ordinances as much as ours did. Typically, a city would ‘roll out the red carpet’ and fast-track projects in instances such as this, not throw-up roadblocks at every turn.”
City Councilman Jim Evert lamented the fate of the project.
“It’s a shame we’ve got ourselves in a position like this,” Evert said. “I think it was a great project.”
Zonarich stated that the company now plans to simply “give our existing property a “facelift” and keep the large, surface parking lot on El Camino Real.”
“As a developer, what was most frustrating about the situation is the fact that one should be able to receive a relative degree of certainty and predictability if you follow a municipalities ordinances and guidelines,” Zonarish wrote. “Otherwise, why have them? It is also unfortunate that the opposition used such misleading tactics to spurn support for an unfounded three-story ban, but I know there has been a long history of that in San Clemente.”
Georgette Korsen, the former president of the San Clemente Historical Society, which opposed the project, said she felt that the failure of the project was an example of what happens when “you go against the will of the people.”
“We’re scrappy and we know what we have,” Korsen said of the people of San Clemente. “And we protect it. That’s what really happened here.”
The True North survey done a few years ago, which stated that the city’s citizens valued the areas small town feel and village character, had shown that people had wanted to keep things small, Korsen said. The consequences of a three-story development in downtown were too great to risk, he said, despite the projects positive merits.
“It was indeed a beautiful project,” Korsen said. “And I told them that. But it was too big. And it would set in motion the potential for the whole downtown to be like that. It would have destroyed what we value.”
So if the world ends on 12/21/12, San Clemente leaves this relam looking like Oceanside. What’s worse is that if the world doesn’t end then we get to look like Oceanside forever. Congrats SC Historical Society for having no vision.
The city leaders failed and will continue to fail. Just look at the blight of the old theather. What an eye sore. Better yet, look at the blight of the city’s south side. Looks more like the inner city of LA or Chicago. If the city keeps thinking they are a small “village”, then they support the “Village Idiot” mentallity. The best thing that could happan to San Clemente is for everyone East of the freeway break away and create their own city. Let (west) SC keep failing and coninue the blight, high density housing and giving a few bicycle riders the power to control traffic flow and construction. What a joke this city has become.
Agree, thanks historical society – which isn’t historical at all. Operates under the cover of doing what our founder Ole, a land developer wanted – NOT.
Example, why did they change the name Ole wanted: ‘San Clemente by the Sea’ – to Spanish Village. We have no Spanish heritage, never have.
History is a good thing and certain buildings like the Casino and Beach Club should be preserved.
The historical society is not only out of touch, but should not impose its ‘make believe historical views’which only cost our city more, on the younger generation of San Clemente residents that will be living here long after they are gone.
PS – and paying the bills for their short sited thinking.
don’t forget it’s the same people that kept a Presidential Library from our children, a gem for our city and tax revenue for the betterment of our city.
The City of San Clemente has turned off not only it’s own local business owners, restaurants, etc by being extremely difficult to work with, they have developed a reputation that will prevent many new businesses from coming to this town.