The Capistrano Insider

At the Library: A Movie and a Concert

Ah, we love our Librarian ...

SJC Library First Friday Film   "Picture Bride"  1994  PG-13  95 mins.  Winner of the coveted Audience Award for Best Dramatic Film at the Sundance Film Festival.  Hawaii, 1918.  She left Japan for a man she had never met, in a new world she couldn't imagine…America.  Two Thumbs Up--Siskel

 Showtime 7 PM, La Sala Auditorium.  Now sponsored by the San Juan Capistrano Rotary Club!!!  Thank You Rotarians!!
  

Greetings SJC Library Fans,
I am happy to report that I survived the month of October and all the jam-packed activities that my work/social calendar had.  In the previous email reminder, I seem to recall mentioning all the "events" I would be accessorizing for. Thanks to my dedicated  shopping prowess resulting in quite an extensive inventory, I don't think I had to repeat an outfit.   Walked the Rotary Ridge Walk, reminisced at a high school reunion that wasn't my class, bid the swallow's adios at Vintage,  spent a weekend in Pasadena at what will probably be my final librarian's convention, and survived my 5th "Day of the Dead" event along with several hundred of my closest friends.  The reunion was why I missed the last outdoor Multicultural Art Series concert for  2009, but I did get a lot of positive feedback from my sparkly outfit and matching gold shoes that I would have worn if I'd been there.   In fact, I just got back from making a little presentation at the city council meeting here in town and the lady sitting behind me said she's the one who held it up and shared the price tag of originally $80 but marked down to $4.97!

The reunion was the most fun and required the least amount of work for me, as opposed to Dia de los Muertos where it all starts with me climbing up on the roof to hang the banner, booking the Mariachi Band, Ballet Folklorico, Aztec Dancers, Face Painter, "skeletal works of art" for the gallery, traditional altars, guys to put up the stage, Indigenous food, and a brand new attraction "House of Skeletons.   It was Sunday October 25 and I worked non-stop from that Friday before morning till I locked up the library and courtyard at 6:30 pm Sunday.  If you weren't among the 700 people who stopped by, we've still got most of the artwork and a couple of the altars on display so if you're joining me this weekend, you can check them out.  I'm packing my overnight bag because Saturday night one of my favorite Multicultural Art Series Performers, Peppino D'Agostino, will be taking the stage in La Sala.  Yes, it's another "double header" for me this weekend which means it's a good thing I've got Thursday off to line up my wardrobe.    Peppino D'Agostino is one of my favorite performers because he's so "how you say" eye candy in Italian?   Well, I'll tell you since I  just babel fish'd it and he's "carmella delliocchio".  Showtimes are at 6:30 & 8:30 pm and tickets are priced at $10 for adults at the door.

 As usual, I've managed to ramble on and didn't even get a chance to tell you how I'm doing in my shoe shopping recovery.  I'm happy to report I only purchased 3 pairs of shoes the entire month, but that probably was helped by the fact that my shopping opportunities were minimal.  I also did a major "return tour" of 13 items which got my Sears charge card in the negative where they owe me money. 

Well, I'd love to keep rambling, especially with details of my reunion encounters and what Real Librarians of Orange County do to fill their evenings when the convention seminars aren't in session.  Guess you'll just have to use your imagination or come join me Friday night for the film and/or Saturday night for Peppino!

Ciao

Teri Garza

Council Roundup: August 4 Meeting

The San Juan Capistrano City Council's August 4 meeting started out in an unusual manner, as supporters of a deal to buy 132 acres of Rancho Mission Viejo land at La Pata and Antonio Parkway -- the Rodeo grounds -- flooded council chambers at 4:30 to comment before the council even went into closed session.

The vast majority of the speakers -- including many equestrians and soccer-league organizers -- urged the council to go ahead with the deal, but at least two homeowners -- Helen Welch Reardon and Kim Lefner -- repeated earlier concerns that the details of the deal should be made public. Both said the property is beautiful and could be an asset to the city, but the city has not disclosed how much they're talking about spending on the property. Capistrano has about $27 million left in the bank from the $30 million open space bond.

There's also a question whether buying the land will prevent construction of already-approved homes and buildings on the Ranch land -- probably not; the Ranch approvals are for units within bubbles, and the approvals for the property allow them to juggle development within the bubbles, so the projects probably don't go away, just move around a bit.

After closed session, the council took a few key actions:

1. Rejected an appeal from the Verizon wireless for a sign on their store off Del Obispo. The store, in Del Obispo Plaza, opened in 2007, but has been without a legal sign. In 2008, code enforcement jumped on them for putting up illegal signs. Even in the days before the appeal went before the City Council, the store had an illegal hot air balloon up as an advertisement.

That angered the council, which noted it several times, before rejecting Verizon's appeal.

Here's that staff report.

2. A staff study says the Catholic Health Enrichment Collaborative (CHEC) which provides social-service referrals out of the city-owned Old Fire Station on La Matanza, does not have a negative impact on the neighborhood. Residents have complained about the center, but the staff report says there's little or no impact from CHEC, although two religious groups that use the facility on weekend bring the most traffic.

Residents complained the center serves illegal immigrants, though, which angered Councilman Sam Allevato. "I'm shocked and dismayed by some of the comments I've heard here tonight." The other council members agreed the issue was actually two discussions: Whether the services impact the neighborhood, and whether CHEC should or shouldn't serve illegal immigrants.

The council decided there was no impact, and the other discussion was best saved for another day.

Here's that staff report.

The meeting ended with a robust conversation during  council comments -- the room was empty as the 11 p.m. hour passed -- about a planned public hearing on another project, the proposed senior development at the north end of town. That deal, which also came out of the Open Space Committee, would see construction of a 750,000 square foot senior community, while the city would pay $10 million (in redevelopment taxes generated by construction of the project) to buy more than 100 acres of open space in the Rancho Capistrano area.

The date for a public hearing on the deal has not been set, but the council debated whether it should include only the development deal or whether the option agreement with the city -- the tax money and other details -- should be discussed then, too. Council members Sam Allevato, Tom Hribar and Mark Nielsen won that battle, to keep the future meeting focused on only the development details.

The proposal has also drawn fire from some residents -- and Councilman Lon Uso -- who contend too much has been negotiated behind closed doors.

In Other News at the Council ... Parking Prohibition and CARE Are Out

The San Juan Capistrano City Council on Tuesday also took the City Attorney's advice and rescinded the effort to ban overnight parking on parts of Camino Capistrano and Alipaz. The council in March put the prohibition in place to improve safety, aesthetics and to battle preceived overcrowding in nearby neighborhoods.

The council -- except Tom Hribar, who opposed it in the first place -- continued to express support for the move, but have backed down after attorney Ed Connor raised the issue of whether proper environmental-protection laws were followed. The city is studying the issue.

Here's Connor's earlier letter.

Several residents spoke, most also in favor of the ban. Many said, however, they understood the city needed to ensure the action is done properly.

But it was also announced Tuesday that the Capistrano Villas neighbhorhood, adjacent to the targeted area, is stepping up its own efforts and ensuring parking regulations in the community are followed and residents keep their garages cleared for cars.

All three associations in the Villas are holding a Spring Cleaning on June 8 -- during which the associations will pay to haul stuff away. Then on June 13, the associations will take a peek in garages.

Stay tuned.

The council also voted to pay up to $30,000 to end it's agreement with Capistrano Animal Rescue Effort, which has had control of a piece of city property on Camino Capistrano north of JSerra for a few years, working to build an adoption center there.

The city is now eyeing the parcel for a dog park, and its agreement with CARE calls for reimbursement of any actual expenses CARE spent on the land. CARE, for its part, is willing to waive the year-long notice requirement and turn over the land as soon as they get a check.

Councilman Lon Uso abstained from the issue because he owns an interest in a building a

Here's CARE's release:

The City Council on Tuesday voted to terminate the lease with Capistrano Animal Rescue Effort (CARE) for a three-quarter acre site north of the intersection of Camino Capistrano and Junipero Serra, where the organization had planned to build an Animal Adoption & Rescue Center.

In consideration for canceling the agreement, the City will reimburse CARE for between $25,000 and $35,000 in costs for work undertaken to improve the site and prepare it for construction.

In 2001, the City Council leased to CARE for $1 per year a small portion of excess property that was acquired as part of the Open Space land purchase in the early 1990s.  CARE began site preparation and fundraising to build a facility on the site to further its mission to rescue and adopt homeless San Juan Capistrano animals and has since raised approximately half of the projected $1 million cost.  CARE, at its expense, processed the required land development permits, had more than $130,000 in site grading and geotechnical analysis and work donated, and fenced and “hydro-seeded” the property to prevent erosion.

In February, the City proposed a Creekside Buffer Ordinance that would have rendered the site unusable for the current plan.  The ordinance is still pending, although the Council advised CARE it should consider other options.

Commenting on the Council’s vote, CARE President Matt Gaffney said:

According to our lease, the City has the right to rescind the lease agreement with 12 months’ notice.  While we are disappointed that we will not be able to fulfill our dream to build a local facility for the animals, the city is within its rights to terminate. 

“We appreciate the work that has been done to move the project forward, but it looks like we will have to explore other options.  Of course our goal remains to serve the animal community in San Juan Capistrano.”

Rather than the animal rescue/adoption center, Mayor Mark Nielsen has suggested putting a dog park on the site. 

CARE was formed in 2000 and has since rescued and adopted more than 1,150 abandoned cats and dogs from San Juan Capistrano that are picked up by Orange County Animal Services.  For more information, visit www.capoanimalrescue.com, or phone (949) 240-1735.

City Manager Adams Addresses Chamber Committee

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.

Capistrano a Leader Again ...

The LA Times is reporting that cities are bracing for the economic fallout of a Chrysler bankruptcy and announcements of thousands of auto-dealerships closing, the municipal world will be dealing with what Capistrano has faced: How to make up for lost dollars when your sales-tax golden egg cracks.

Capistrano, of course, used to get 40 percent of all of its sales-tax revenue from car dealers. They're great for cities: A high return of sales tax on relatively low traffic impact (it takes a lot of sales at Costco to make up for one new-car sale.)

But when they go, it hurts big. Capistrano leaders have launched a long-term economic study, and the key term is "diversify, diversify, diversify."

But money aside, there's another question: What do you do with a car lot when not selling cars there anymore? The properties are relatively unique. The answer, says the LA Times, scrape 'em flat and start over.

Here's the article.