San Juan Capistrano City Manager Dave Adams addressed the Chamber of Commerce Governmental Affairs Committee this morning, touching on a range of topics that will have a big impact on town.
I didn't jot them all down, but here's some of the keys that haven't been talked about as much as some of the others:
* Public Improvements: Adams said several large projects will start later this year, including reconstruction/widening of the intersection at Rancho Viejo Road and Junipero Serra, the reconstruction of the intersection of Camino Capistrano and Del Obispo and the widening of the Trabuco Creek Bridge.
* Downtown: Initial plans for the new hotel on the old Mission Inn property across from the Mission have been submitted to City Hall. The challenge: To make the project pencil out, it has to be a certain size, and the property's not that big, so the project has to go up. Three or four stories, taller than currently allowed and in the sensitive spot next to the MIssion. Mechelle Lawrence, excecutive director of the Mission, said the board discussed it this week. No endorsement yet. * Transportation: The Ortega Highway widening east of town will go on another year. The city is still working with Caltrans to find something acceptable for the stretch of Ortega from the Hunt Club east. * Extending La Pata into San Clemente would cost $60 million, and San Clemente isn't pleased with the current plans. That project, Adams said, was 2015-2016, at best. * Business: The city's watching the potential bankruptcy of General Motors carefully, because of Weseloh Chevrolet in town. The city has been over-reliant on income from car dealerships, Adams said, and has a couple of studies moving forward to help address that. * A new Costco, with fuel sales, could be under construction on city-owned land off Stonehill in a year to 18 months -- providing residents from the adjacent Capistrano Valley Mobile Estates don't put up too much of a fight. That move would increase the city's sales tax, diversify the economic base, and make way for a Target or similar store to move into the current Costco location. * The City Council asked staff to look at a head tax for private schools. That, Adams, said, would require voter approval, and likely spur a backlash from private-school parents who would argue they spend money in town at various shops and restaurants while they're here. (About 25 percent of the students at St. Margaret's are SJC residents ... I've heard similar numbers for other private schools in town.) * Budget: Adams noted the city spends about $7 million a year on police services. That's up from last year, but running our own police department would cost twice that, Adams said. He also noted the city hasn't added an additional deputy to the local force in a decade, despite the growth of the city. Councilwoman Laura Freese was also there. She added a couple of tidbits: * A committee is working on celebrating San Juan Capistrano's 50th anniversary of incorporation as a city. (They're working way ahead: The city incorporated in 1961.) * The City Council is exploring a marketing campaign for local business, potentially involving television commercials and ads in travel magazines. (Trivia: Did you know San Juan Capistrano has 73 food-service establishments? They generate $596,000 in annual sales tax, but the city's losing another potential $1.1 million when residents eat elsewhere.) Here's a staff report from the initial idea.
Head Tax for PRIVATE SCHOOLS is discrimination --these people should'nt have to pay more when they allready cant get a decent educ. for their kids in the public school so they are paying for private schools---Maybe Dave Adams should ask himself why on his watch did the overcrowding in SJC get to this point which has overpopulated our public schools thus detiorated the education! HOW ABOUT A HEAD TAX ON ILLEGAL ALIENS AND THIER KIDS who are bleeding us dry here! No, lets bleed the private school people more, thats never viewed as racist.
Who are you going to market to in the travel guides more illegal aliens? Maybe the chamber could do a co-promotion with Mission Hospital /CHEC /Camino HealtCare, they seem to have no problem marketing to these people and inviting them to our town--COME TO OUR SANCTUARY and go to CHEC where we will point you to all the gov funded benefits you can get...then go eat dinner for free on us--why not all the rest do!
Tax paying residents dont shop here or dine out here, why would anyone else want to?
Posted by: Kim McCarthy | June 02, 2009 at 12:10 PM