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From left: City Council candidates John Campbell, Paul Lopez and Cody Martin answer audience questions during an election forum held in the Capistrano Valley Mobile Estates on Oct. 6. Photo: Collin Breaux

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TOP NEWS SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO SHOULD KNOW THIS WEEK

City Council Candidates Discuss Issues During Election Forum

BY COLLIN BREAUX

The three candidates for the District 3 seat on the San Juan Capistrano City Council gave their takes on electric bikes, proposed redevelopment of the Camino Real Playhouse and other local topics during an election forum held at the Capistrano Valley Mobile Estates Clubhouse on Oct. 6.

Paul Lopez, Cody Martin and John Campbell are running for the seat currently held by Mayor Derek Reeve, who is not campaigning for the position again and has instead thrown his hat in the South Orange County Community College District Trustee Area 4 election.

Asked about electric bikes, Campbell said they have become a “bit of a nuisance, especially with younger riders.”

“I think we need to follow the (Capistrano Unified School District) and try to come up with ways to have kids go through a safety program, so that they can understand more about the responsibilities of having a bike,” Campbell said. “When I was growing up, there were bike licenses. It’s important to not burden our city any further with ridiculous enforcements of different laws, but we need to look around and think out of the box, because this is a brand-new challenge for us.”

Lopez also pointed to CUSD’s recently passed “Safe Routes to School” program that calls for school site-specific policies to be implemented regarding e-bike use on campuses.

“Right now, as a city, we’re in more of an education-based situation of informing people what to do with e-bikes, e-bike safety, what you can and can’t do—but we need more,” Lopez said. “One, for starters, I’d like to see more speed limits posted on trails. In addition, I think we need to do more than simply educate. Particularly for riders under 18—because I think a lot of our issues with e-bike readers are with riders under 18—we need to create fines.”

One issue Lopez mentioned is two people riding on an e-bike, which is not allowed. Violators can go to a class and have a parent sign off on it to have their fine waived, Lopez said.

Martin, who is on the San Juan Capistrano Parks, Equestrian and Community Services Commission, said they have dealt with the issue and heard a presentation on it from the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.

“The truth is, the vast majority of e-bike users use them safely and responsibly. We have e-bikes in my family,” Martin said. “The problem is, there’s a not insignificant minority of e-bike users that abuse the process. … Most e-bikes can’t exceed 25 miles an hour, give or take, and most parents understand that. The issue is the internet. On YouTube and online and whatnot, young kids can learn how to modify their e-bike to go faster than 25. This is the problem.”

Local schools need to educate students about how to properly use e-bikes, and a fine could also be implemented in San Juan for infractions, including speeding and not wearing helmets, Martin said.

The candidates also addressed plans by developer Dan Almquist to build a parking structure and office and retail space at the current Camino Real Playhouse property, which would require the razing of the current Playhouse site.

“This goes back to responsible development. I want to make sure that any development that comes into the city is responsible and preserves the character of our city,” Lopez said.

Martin said he is glad to see there will be more parking available downtown.

“It’s such a pain in the rear when you’re trying to go have a meal with your family or visit the Mission or go shopping downtown, and you can’t find somewhere to park,” Martin said. “I tell you what, we are losing something really special in the Playhouse, and we need to get working on that as soon as possible. It’s nice to have performing arts here in town. It’s not something we want to lose. I think it adds to our historic charm. It complements the Mission and Los Rios Street well.”

Campbell is the treasurer and a board member for the Playhouse and has been involved with the redevelopment process since the city reached a negotiation agreement with Almquist years ago.

“It’s a very challenging situation, and I think it’s important for everyone to understand how that worked. That property was owned by the state of California and was given to the city 30 years ago as a part of redevelopment,” Campbell said. “What happened through that process is the state went back and, over the years, have called back the ticket on that. First, they said no more redevelopment funds are available. Then they came back to the city and said, we want you to sell that property, and we’re demanding you sell it by a certain date.”

Campbell said project plans, which have floated the idea of a new performing arts center but did not include that in the specific proposal recently taken up by the City Council, changed over time. Nobody wants apartment buildings in “the shadow” of Mission San Juan Capistrano, which was a possibility if the city did not approve Almquist’s plans, Campbell said.

The candidates also spoke on various other topics, including traffic.

“Everyone here knows the traffic situation in San Juan Capistrano is not pretty, but there are some solutions we can come up with that I would like to implement,” Lopez said. “One is we have a trolley system—a wonderful trolley system that gets used throughout the summer and on one or two select events throughout the year. I would like to see that trolley system extended throughout the year and for special events, and to further promote that so residents can use the trolley for free.”

Lopez also said he would like to see proposed development plans promote pedestrian traffic through the addition of more sidewalks.

Martin said he would like to ensure the city has a balanced budget and is fiscally responsible. The city currently has a fiscal surplus, partly attributed to reduced legal expenses and a lean number of staff members.

“I’d like to fully fund our law enforcement and give them the tools they need to deal with the homelessness issue. That includes more funding, particularly for police officers to deal specifically with the homelessness issue. We already have a couple of deputies who are focused on that,” Martin said. “Finally, I’d like to protect our open space here in town as much as possible. There’s a lot of development going on in the open space, and I’d like to make sure we’re protecting that not just for our equestrian community, but just also your average Jane and Joe.”

Campbell said citizen safety is important.

“The sheriff has done a pretty darn good job so far doing that. Our crime is down, but there’s still some situations that concern me. Homelessness,” Campbell said. “The Sheriff’s Department did a great job getting the hillside cleared up. That was a big problem in your community.”

San Juan Capistrano Housing Element Gets State Certification

BY COLLIN BREAUX

After months and months of tweaking their housing guidelines to meet a required state certification, the California Department of Housing and Community Development has signed off on the City of San Juan Capistrano’s Housing Element for the 2021-2029 planning period.

San Juan Director of Development Services Joel Rojas said the city is “very pleased” about the certification. The city was informed about the certification on Sept. 23.

“This culminates a process that began two years ago when the City was assigned its Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) by the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG),” Rojas said in an email. “The City’s assigned RHNA (or housing need) for the eight-year period of 2021-2029 is 1,054 new units consisting of 270 units for very low-income households (<50% County Annual Median Income), 173 units for low-income households (5180% County Annual Median Income), 183 units for moderate-income households (81-120% County Annual Median Income) and 428 units for above-moderate-income households (>120% County Annual Median Income).”

Updates for a city’s General Plan— which the Housing Element is a part of and serves as a local government’s principal guideline—are required every eight years for municipalities throughout California. The updated Housing Element includes rezoning that allows housing in some parts of San Juan, including the Industrial Park and Commercial Manufacturing zoning districts north of Avenida Aeropuerto between Camino Capistrano and San Juan Creek. While a city is required to accommodate housing, it does not have to actually build it.

“In December 2020, staff began working to prepare an updated draft Housing Element to demonstrate that the City can accommodate its RHNA allocation,” Rojas said.

After an “extensive” public outreach effort that involved an online survey, virtual workshops and input from city officials, the city adopted an updated Housing Element in February 2022 that was submitted to HCD and identified several ways to tackle housing needs, including construction of approved and proposed residential projects and removal of government constraints.

“The City now looks forward to working with the local community, housing developers and other stakeholders on implementing its approved Housing Element so that the housing needs of the City’s residents spanning all income levels can be met,” Rojas said.

Photo: Courtesy of Tierney/Adobe Stock

San Clemente Parent Wants to Open New Charter School in South Orange County

BY COLLIN BREAUX

A few years ago, Kevin Pratt moved to San Clemente from Frisco, Texas. Pratt had his kids enrolled in a new charter school in Frisco called Founders Classical Academy, which had uniforms and taught kids Latin and logic.

“We were very pleasantly surprised. It was very rigorous, really hard,” Pratt said. “The kids learned a ton of history. Of course, they had the other subjects, too. It was a really great experience. The staff dressed very professionally. There was a lot of focus on gratitude and other virtues.”

Now that Pratt has come further west, he looked for something similar but couldn’t find a charter school that was close enough to his liking—not to mention there was a wait list for students at an Orange school he investigated.

“Essentially, we’re trying to figure out, can we do our own?” Pratt said. “We met this guy. His name is Gary Davis. He’s at the California Charter Schools Association. He had this vision for a leadership academy focused on servant leadership.”

From there, Pratt and Davis have been working together—and with others—on opening California Republic Leadership Academy. No exact location has been set yet, but Pratt has his eye on somewhere in San Clemente or San Juan Capistrano. He is also prepared, if necessary, to use an existing underutilized Capistrano Unified School District campus where attendance is low.

“There’s Prop 39. It’s a law that says if a charter is approved, then you also have to allocate them space in the district,” Pratt said. “We’ll apply for that, because we know there’s underutilized campuses. … It would be wonderful if the district approves a nice space and we can give them a lease payment, help them cover the cost of the property.”

Pratt has looked at enrollment data for CUSD schools within their size range from the previous 14 years. Marblehead Elementary School and San Clemente High School are among campuses that Pratt mentioned as possible sites.

If someone wants to start a new charter school, they have to create a petition proposal and submit it to the school district for approval.

“Originally, we submitted our petition Aug. 1. Our understanding was we needed enough signatures to represent 50% of our planned enrollment,” Pratt said. “Our planned enrollment was 375 (students). Basically, we needed signatures for 188 kids. We turned that in, got the signatures. That ended up being a little over 100 families.”

Pratt said the district’s “interpretation” of the signature requirement was that the signature of a mother of three elementary-aged children counted as one toward the requirement, not three. The number of signatures they had then limited their Year 1 enrollment to 200 students.

“We took 30 days and came back with over 250 signatures,” Pratt said. A vote for the new school is scheduled for November, according to Pratt.

If CUSD turns down the proposal, Pratt plans to appeal to the Orange County Board of Education, which is generally pro-charter schools.

“Our intention is to spread the word these next few weeks before the public hearing,” Pratt said.

He has a principal identified who has charter school experience and plans to have Davis serve as the executive director.

“Once we’re approved, then money is unlocked from the state for the charter. That’s when we’ll actually start the execution portion of it—hiring teachers, locking down the facility, starting the actual enrollment process,” Pratt said.

As for what he hopes students and families get out of California Republic Leadership Academy, Pratt said it could be “a total change of pace from the world right now.”

“For example, uniforms. It’s wild what kids wear on campus these days. There are no standards, it seems like,” Pratt said. “You put everyone in the same uniform and then girls aren’t feeling self-conscious because they can’t dress like the other girls. Disparities in income are less transparent. Everyone’s the same and focused on learning.”

Students will also not be allowed to have free access to their smartphones during the day.

“They’ll actually have to communicate with each other face to face,” Pratt said.

California Republic Leadership Academy also intends to foster respect from teachers to the students and vice versa, as well as with parents. That aspect is “obviously hit or miss” in the usual school system, Pratt said.

“We want students to know what public service and servant leadership is and just have that appreciation for helping others. We want that ingrained throughout all grades, so it’s instilled in them to look for opportunities to help others,” Pratt said. “We’ll aspire to an integration with the community where we’re using mentors and actual interaction with community leaders as part of our education experience, whether it’s service-based projects or assignments or civic assignments where they’re interacting or at least participating in the civic process or observing it.”

Visit calrepublicleadershipacademy.org for more information.