BOB BAKER, San Clemente
Councilmember Steve Knoblock seems to be exhibiting the same traits that he possessed when on the City Council in 2007.
Seems he has got selective memory. Here are the facts: He was the deciding vote approving the rezoning of land, land-zoned recreational open space, so an out-of-town developer could build a housing development of 400 units.
Mr. Knoblock wrote a letter, printed by this newspaper on Sept. 22, attempting to justify his vote for the sale of open space. He equated it with the sale of city-owned, commercially zoned land to Target.
What kind of city councilmember does not understand the difference between these important zoning designations? The city sold commercially zoned land to Target—not city-owned open space, as he states in his letter to this newspaper. There is a huge difference, Steve.
He also says many of the same people that opposed the open space sale opposed the Target sale. What? I was a city councilmember at the time, and there was no opposition at all to the Target sale. Certainly, not of the magnitude of the firestorm of angry residents that his approval of selling open space created.
The Target sale funds made it possible for the city to build the sports park. Sales-tax revenue now funds its operation. That benefits all residents. Rezoning open space so some developer can build houses benefits only one person, the developer. Steve knows that; he has worked for plenty of developers during his career.
