SAN CLEMENTE : 562 More Units OKd for Forster Ranch

City Council members gave Centex Development Co. approval this week to move ahead with plans to build 562 more homes and a new high school site on a portion of the 1,090-acre Forster Ranch subdivision.

The preliminary approval of the changes to the Forster Ranch General Plan by the City Council is only the first of many time-consuming steps to come, City Manager Michael W. Parness said.

“We certainly need more information,” he said, including an environmental impact report and changes to the Forster Ranch specific plan. The council “basically gave Centex the encouragement to spend the money and time to begin the process.”

Under the proposal, Centex would donate 35 acres off Avenida La Pata for the relocation of 30-year-old San Clemente High School from its prime commercial spot on Avenida Pico, just off Interstate 5.

For months, city officials have been looking at developing everything from a regional shopping center to an auto and outlet center at the high school site. Such development could generate between $1.2 million and $1.5 million in sales taxes to depleted city coffers, according to city planners.

In return for donating the high school site and making other improvements deemed as a “public benefit,” such as saving California gnatcatcher habitat as open space, the council would allow Centex to build 562 more homes. A total of 2,595 homes are proposed for the area in the hills of north San Clemente.

Councilman Thomas Lorch was the lone dissenter in the vote, saying he wanted to see open space that would be more useful to the public.

“We don’t need 500 more houses out there,” he said.

Other changes to the plan will:

* Add 51 acres to the Forster Ranch planning area from the Marblehead planning area, which would be used for homes and open space.

Convert land formerly designated for single-family homes into open space, which would save California gnatcatcher habitat.

Add a two-person firefighting “attack team” to Fire Station No. 3 to keep response times “acceptable.”

Delete the extension of Camino del Rio to save a primary ridgeline in the area.