The Capistrano Insider

Shoot Capistrano Allow Coyote Hunts?

Resident Clint Worthington related how his dog was bit by a coyote in the northwest Open Space -- dog OK, but Clint had a $700 vet bill -- and another resident how a dog was snatched and killed in the neighborhood between the golf course and La Novia.

(Both dogs were off leash.)

What to do, though? The town is proud of its open space, so there is an expectation of the wildlife ... It's illegal to fire a weapon in the city limits, so residents cannot shoot the predators.

Laguna Woods saw a pet (on leash) taken and a woman accosted by a coyote. That council has agreed to allow professionals come in and thin the coyote population.

Here's that story, via the Los Angeles Times.

Capistrano Council has Long Week of Big Decisions

The San Juan Capistrano City Council has a busy week ahead.  

On Tuesday, the council is meeting at 5 p.m. — earlier than usual — to consider a closed-session agenda with eight different items. State law allows elected officials to private discuss issues related to personnel, litigation and real-estate deals. 

The council’s closed-session lineup Tuesday touches all of those points, including the $9.2 million lawsuit-loss to the Scalzo Family Trust. A court and jury ordered the multi-million-dollar verdict and fees after finding the city imposed improper conditions on the Scalzo family’s efforts to develop their Del Obispo Street property. 

On the personnel front, the city is reviewing the work of City Manager Joe Tait, and discussing his agreement to take a 5 percent pay cut to his $324,000 contracts as City Manager and interim Utilities Director. 

Finally, the council will discuss an existing lawsuit brought by the developer of the Marbella community, filed after the city announced plans to sell land taken from the builder for a fire station. The builder said that violated the original deal. 

The council moves into its regular session at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday to discuss a host of items that have generated considerable interest in the public: 

-- A potential reorganization of City Hall that could see many positions now held by staffers going to outside contractors; Download Reorg

-- A staging area and other trail improvements in the city’s Northwest Open Space, as proposed by the private Open Space Foundation; Download OS Trails

-- Transitioning the “ad hoc” Open Space Committee to a regular “Public Lands Commission” that would take over equestrian and open-space work; Download OS Committee

-- Whether to renew leases with the Oaks and Blenheim Farms for their use of what is now city-owned open space. The Oaks would pay $4,800, while Blenheim would pay $225,000. Download OS Leases

Meeting that same night as the Community Redevelopment Agency, the council will also consider a deal that would see a car dealership come to town. Tuttle-Click wants to buy Capistrano Ford, which is closing, and move to a Camino Capistrano location. The city is considering a deal that would rebate sales-tax to the dealership. Download CRA Tuttle Click

 Additionally, the Redevelopment Agency will consider a proposed lease with the Ecology Center that would see that organization’s rent rise to $1,500 in the fifth year. The city has taken some criticism because the Ecology’s Center per-square-foot cost was below what other groups are charged for to lease city land. Download CRA Ecology Center

On Wednesday, the council meets again, this time in a public special session to consider the long-term vision and strategy for the city. The idea there is to ensure the long-term budget expectations are in line with what Capistrano can bring into city coffers through sales and property taxes. Download CC Vision

The council meets at City Hall, 32400 Paseo Adelanto, San Juan Capistrano.

Capistrano Officials and District Attorney Meet Over Alleged Brown Act Violations

City officials and officials from the Orange County District Attorney's Office met on November 5 to discuss an alleged violation of the state's public-meeting laws, apparently regarding negotiations behind a deal that would see the city buy open space at the north end of town from a company that wants to build a large retirement community.

The proposed deal sprang from the city's Open Space Committee and has left the once-cohesive council fractured and spurred a constant barrage of criticism from some members of the community. Under the terms of the deal, Continuing Life Communities would buy 150 acres from the Crystal Cathedral Ministries at the north end of town. CLC would build a 776,000 square foot retirement community on 34 acres and the city would use $10 million from the property-tax boost to buy the remaining 116 acres for open space. 

The proposal, touted in city news releases, was rolled out in January 2009 as a complete package. But that's the problem, former Mayor Roy Byrnes contends in his complaint.

Under the terms of the Brown Act, the state's open-meeting law, city officials can meet privately to discuss the terms and price of a real estate transaction. But Byrnes argues, the Capistrano deal with CLC went much further than that, discussing specifics of the development, water rights and even roads.

Byrnes complained to the District Attorney, and then-Mayor Mark Nielsen - one of two council members who sits on the Open Space Committee with about a dozen appointed residents - City Manager Joe Tait and City Attorney Omar Sandoval met with Senior Assistant District Attorney William Feccia.

City officials on Tuesday night -- after stinking public comments from Byrnes and resident Jim Reardon, denied the District Attorney found any Brown Act violations, but letters between the city and District Attorney's Office seem to indicate the case wasn't so clear cut.

The District Attorney's Office seems to take a hard line that "price and terms of payment" means, well, price and terms of payment. The city seemed to argue it took other issues into account.

"...We agreed that the parties would submit a letter to the Attorney General for an opinion regarding whether, and to what extent, the language, "price and terms of payments"...permit the closed session discussion of terms other than the monetary price of and the specific terms by which the monetary price would be paid," Feccia wrote in a December 8 letter. (He was asking for information the city promised to provide after the December 8 meeting but hadn't.)

In a December 18 letter back, Sandoval says the city always intended to discuss the CLC and associated option agreement publicly, and had asked several city attorneys and others as to how they read the Brown Act. "Unfortunately, we have not been able to reach a consensus with respect to specific terms because the various premutations in the minds of many could be limitless yet specific to individual parcels of real estate."

Sandoval concluded his letter by saying "In the meantime, we are mindful of your office's strict interpretation of the Brown Act's open meeting exception when handing Real Estate transactions."

Here are the letters, provided by the city:

Download Feccia-letter from 12-22-09

Download Feccia-Letter from 12-9-09

 Download Feccia-Letter to 12-18-09 Final

City officials Tuesday night denied any violations and contended the public speakers were wrong in their allegations. But, they said, the Brown Act prohibited them from discussing what went on in closed session.

On a related note, reporters from four news agencies were at Tuesday's council meeting: The Capistrano Dispatch, The Capistrano Valley News, OC Weekly and the new all online Voice of OC (www.voiceofoc.org)

OC Weekly is likely looking into the CLC and other open space deals -- the deal to purchase the Rancho Mission Viejo property at the east side of town was negotiated and packaged much the same way -- while Voice of OC is working on a couple of different stories. The Web site did post a story this morning, for example, noting the reporter was looking for public documents regarding the potential purchase of a City Hall site on Valle Road.

Uso's State of the City: No Room for Mistakes

San Juan Capistrano is running out of vacant land, meaning every development decision is more important than ever to ensure the city’s future economic stability, Mayor Lon Uso told an overflow crowd at El Adobe restaurant during his “State of the City” breakfast Wednesday morning.

 

Capistrano has recently enlisted Studio 111 to amend its Historic Town Center Master Plan to bring in the right mix of retail and commercial projects while maintaining the city’s historic and small-town feel. Studio 111 worked on the Paso Robles Master Plan, the Laguna Beach Civic Arts District Master Plan; the Santa Fe Depot District in Orange; and the Petaluma downtown redevelopment project.

 

Additionally, Uso told the audience—which included Supervisor Pat Bates and Sheriff Sandra Hutchens—he last month met with transportation officials and those from San Clemente and Dana Point to continue work on a tri-city trolley project that would move residents and visitors among the three cities. The planning is being paid for by Measure M sales-tax money.

 

Here's his entire speech:

Download Uso State of the City

The Ecology Center to Open Doors of Congdon House; Council Looks at Swanner House Uses

The Ecology Center, in the historic Congdon House on Alipaz, announced it will open its doors to the public for regular tours and visits next month.

Here's the official announcement: "The Ecology Center is opening its doors to the public starting February 6th! Please bring your family, friends and neighbors as we welcome company, Saturday and Sunday - 11am - 4pm. In addition to our opening, we have many new programs to announce. Please explore our Backyard Skills workshop series, our Eco-Design Studio, and more!!"

The center, which focuses on teaching folks how to live with a smaller footprint on the Earth, is a non-profit that opened in the 130-year house in 2008. The building is owned by the city and adjacent to South Coast Farms.

Here's the center's Web site, which discusses upcoming programs.

Contrast that use, just for fun, with the city's proposal to start holding events -- including weddings -- at the city-owned Swanner House at the north end of town, on Camino Capistrano.

The Swanner House, built in 1923, was purchased by the city as part of the northwest open space picked up after the 1990 bond approval. It's the tan house with the wooden water tower between the home and the garage, all in front of old orange groves. The Swanner House is near what will be an open space park.

Right now, the city pays about $500 a month to maintain the home -- which is on the National Register of Historic Places -- and a family living there pays $2,300 a month. Staff, working at the behest of the council, looked at possible uses for the house and decided a wedding center/meeting facility would be best.

Staff could manage the facility, the report says, and proposes fees of $1,000 up to $ and estimates the overall income would be about $63,000 a year. Additionally, it would cost about $200,000 to get the Swanner House ready, the report says. That, it adds, could be covered by a grant, though.

The council endorsed more study on the plan by a 5-0 vote, although Councilman Sam Allevato noted the city might have to bring on staff to work as a wedding coordinator, and Councilmembers Mark Nielsen and Laura Freese suggested staff's estimate of the annual income might be ... optimistic.

The plan but it didn't go over well with everyone in attendance at Thursday's special (delayed by the rain storm impacts on City Hall) City Council meeting,  though: residents Tony Brown and Clint Worthington said it was wrong for the city -- which doesn't pay property taxes or have other expenses borne by private parties -- to go into business competing at against the private sector.

That was supported by a letter from John Q. Humphreys, who owns Ramos House Cafe and recently opened The Villa on Camino Capistrano to host weddings. It took him seven years, he said, to get through the process to open The Villa. He was disgusted, he said, and nearly bankrupt by the process. He considered selling his businesses and leaving Capistrano, but loves the valley too much, he said.

"Now, I have heard that apparently the city wants to open a wedding facility just one mile up the road," Humphreys wrote. "Maybe it's just the nose of a chef, but something smells fishy."

Here's the staff report: Download CC Swanner House Use

Here's Humphreys' letter: Download CC Swanner House Letter

And lest anyone think this is a new issue for the city, here's a link to a Los Angeles Times' article, when the council delayed making a decision on what to do with Swanner. At that point, the local Audubon Society wanted to use Swanner as a local birdwatching headquarters, slide shows and tours of the historic house. That was in 1996 ...

http://articles.latimes.com/1996-11-08/local/me-62532_1_city-council