There are many disagreements in our community, but one thing everyone shares is a desire to protect the fundamental appeal of San Juan Capistrano. The HTCMP will breathe new life into our downtown and provide a framework upon which our community can build its future in a way that benefits everyone and preserves its historic charm.
 
The Master Plan will not bring any changes to San Juan that are unwanted. Rather, it will enable us to move quickly and facilitate the implementation of projects that we DO want in a timely manner. This couldn’t be more critical in today’s business landscape.
 
Cities no longer have the luxury of sitting back and waiting for businesses to show up – bringing new jobs and tax revenue. In this economy, the businesses have the leverage and cities are competing for their investment.
 
As a smaller town with some budget constraints, San Juan Capistrano isn’t in a position to offer some of the tax breaks and other financial incentives that other cities can. However, with the adoption of the HTCMP we can instead offer the one thing that’s often just as enticing to a business; time.
 
With a solid framework in place outlining the available uses, a potential business can engage with City staff with a substantive understanding of its options. The businesses that are actively looking for new locations aren’t sitting through months-long back-and-forth dialogues with Planning departments anymore. They’re moving along to locations that make it simple, quick and easy for them to get their doors open.
 
Simple, quick and easy, though, does not mean we’re relinquishing control of things like design elements and conditional use permitting. The HTCMP is an outline; a document that serves as a menu of pre-approved choices that make sense to our community. No substantial project will move forward without community feedback.
 
Those processes have already made their mark on the Master Plan. Through this essential process, the Plan has been amended and altered to reflect that input. City Staff is recommending that a number of elements be modified or eliminated altogether.
 
Another factor that will obviously change the way the plan is implemented is the loss of the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA). I’ve heard some people say that without the agency, the HTCMP isn’t worth pursuing any more. I believe the opposite is true; without the Agency it is absolutely essential for us to adopt the Plan.
 
There are countless ways to finance projects like community centers, parking lots, City Halls, etc. Many cities just haven’t used those alternatives because the Redevelopment Agency was simply an easier option. Now that the CRA “credit card” has been cut up, we’ll have to get creative and start building funds, establish foundations or organize some kind of capital campaign.
 
Those are all viable and reasonable funding mechanisms that could be used to enhance our community. They may take a little longer, but many would agree that it’s a much better way to fund most projects than the CRA was.
 
The HTCMP would give us a huge competitive edge in fundraising relative to other communities that propose projects that require uncertain zoning changes. Investors are looking for the projects that are going to get done, not those that will tie up capital for years on end. As such, the likelihood of securing funding is exponentially greater with the Master Plan in place.
 
To some degree, I understand the hesitation with adopting a plan like this.  This is a comprehensive plan that addresses many, many issues. When reading through it and considering all of those elements at once, it feels like we’re taking a wrecking ball to our beautiful town and starting from scratch.
 
That fear couldn’t be more misplaced. This plan is designed to be implemented over decades. Each individual component will be thoughtfully considered and evaluated for its appropriateness here. Those that we as a community like will be moved forward. Those that are not (see: extending Yorba St. across the front steps of the Blas Aguilar Adobe) will be quickly and justifiably tossed out.
 
All this plan does is empower us with new and exciting options that can improve our business community and quality of life. It puts the projects we’d like to see on the fast track to completion. It opens doors and says “we’re not issuing blank checks, but we are ready for business” to those who want to bring jobs and tax revenue to San Juan Capistrano.
 
The Chamber of Commerce, together with many local business and property owners, job creators and people who genuinely care about this community, urge our City leaders to adopt the Historic Town Center Master Plan.