Playa del Norte/Measure A Debate Rages On

The San Clemente City Council, staff and residents were involved in a protracted discussion Tuesday over the Playa del Norte development, which goes before voters in March.

Debate is heating up on Measure A, a vote for which would allow an approximately 50,000-square-foot retail development, partly on city beachfront property, in the North Beach area of town.

Commenters on San Clemente Patch and other local media websites have also continued to argue the merits of the proposed project.

An issue that came before the council Tuesday involved voter information. People in favor of the Playa del Norte project say the city should stake poles outlining the footprint of the buildings proposed to show the actual height and effect on views.

Vonne Barnes, an anti-Playa advocate, showed photos of the poles  overlaid with blocks of color demonstrating where the views would be blocked out.

Playa del Norte advocates say the story poles, or photos of the story poles as they existed last year when the city erected them, are misleading and  say the city-commissioned photo simulations of what the project would look like are more accurate, showing the architectural elements proposed.

Another resident, pro-Playa advocate Kathryn Stovall-Dennis, told the council that "Yes on A" signs were being stolen from lawns.

"At some point, we have to let this go and let the citizens figure out this information for themselves," said Mayor Lori Donchak.

Some residents argued that there were inaccuracies in the information about the project posted on the website, and some pro-Playa del Norte residents took issue with some statements in an article in the San Clemente Times by former Councilman and Playa opponent Wayne Eggleston.

The special election on Measure A is March 8.

Editor's note: is also a Patch guest columnist. , anti-Playa advocate and Patch political columnist, is the husband of Vonne Barnes.