Shaheen Sadeghi, developer of The Lab and The Camp shopping centers in Costa Mesa, has pushed a city to define itself.
Sadeghi’s planned 2.6-acre Playa del Norte project in San Clemente’s North Beach area has heightened tensions between those who would like to see the city remain a laid-back beach town and those who would like to see more restaurants and shops.
The two camps could decide the fate of Sadeghi’s project at the polls on Tuesday when they vote for or against Measure W, which gives residents an advisory say on Playa del Norte.
A “yes” vote shows support for Playa del Norte, which would take out city parking to build a shopping center wrapped in Spanish architecture with lots of open and community space.
A “no” vote would show opposition to the project and could prompt the City Council to reconsider how to fix up the neglected North Beach area.
The election results aren’t legally binding. But the outcome is likely to influence how council members feel about the project.
“I have no doubt it will pass,” said Kathryn Stovall Dennis, who helped develop the San Clemente Coastal Trail, which lets beachgoers get to the beach without crossing the railroad tracks.
Dennis is part of the Pro North Beach Vision Coalition, a group of organizations, businesses and people who support the project.
Some of the coalition members include the San Clemente Historical Society, Pete Townend, a well-known surfer, Tim Garrett, president of Irvine-based Lost International LLC, and the San Clemente Chamber of Commerce.
Sadeghi’s Lab Holding LLC and the Pro North Beach Vision Coalition have been promoting the project through mailers, Web sites, videos and workshops. About 11,000 residents recently received “Yes on W” fliers in the mail.
“I want it to pass by a lot,” Dennis said. “It will give the message that the people in the community really want to see this project.”
Opposition
But some residents don’t like the idea of an “outsider” changing their town.
Charles Mann and Bob Baker, both longtime San Clemente residents running for City Council, have campaigned, in part, on opposing the project.
They prefer no development there to preserve access to the beach and trails, keep existing parking and prevent more traffic.
North Beach was targeted for revitalization several years ago. It is a 10-acre area that includes the historic Miramar Theater, the Casino Playhouse and the Ole Hanson Beach House.
After spending a couple of years crafting an overarching plan for North Beach, council members unanimously chose Costa Mesa-based Lab Holding in 2006 to develop part of the area that touches on three tracts of land, but mainly “the triangle” that now is a parking lot.
The Lab’s design was selected for its architectural conformity with the community.
Sadeghi brought on Santa Barbara architect Henry Lenny to design the Spanish colonial revival buildings that will house stores and eateries in a garden setting.
Sadeghi’s invested a substantial amount of money redrawing plans to meet ongoing city objections, cutting the size of the development by nearly half to 60,000 square feet.
A hotel, originally proposed, was nixed after input from the city and the California Coastal Commission.
Sadeghi said continuing the project has become a matter of principle.
“We’re going to fight like hell,” Sadeghi said. “The mission for us is to get the facts out. When people realize the amenities, they usually are for it.”
More than the measure, the future of the project could be determined by the makeup of the new City Council.
Two supporters of the project,Councilmen Jim Dahl and Steve Knoblock,are up for re-election. Challengers Baker and Mann are opposed to it.
If both are elected, Sadeghi could lose his majority support from the five-person council, which not only has the power to approve the center’s designs, but has to price and sell the city-owned land to Sadeghi before development.
If the project moves forward, the next steps are completing an environmental report and getting Coastal Commission approval.
“We have a lot of work to do,” Sadeghi said.
