Jerry Nieblas, San Juan Capistrano, Janice Pickartz, Dana Point
The Capistrano Historical Alliance Committee vehemently opposes development of a hotel and townhomes next to Historic Town Center Park. As most of you know, CHAC is dedicated and committed to preserving the historical integrity of San Juan Capistrano.
Developers have money and back room deals can be made, but history and preservation should never be for sale, never. We remind you that San Juan Capistrano is the birthplace of Orange County. Let your actions of support towards the referendum be a message to the developers that San Juan Capistrano cannot be bought. We ask you to protect this land. The hotel and townhomes would desecrate one of the most important and historically sensitive sites in San Juan Capistrano. We are not our ancestors. Those ancestors had to stand silent while the land was violated. Hear our voices. The historical families that descended from pre-Mission, early California Rancho, European and Hispanic families have ties to this site. It was part of the early Mission plaza area. The Mission constructed adobe homes and later a Forster home and the Las Rosas/Nieblas family home and restaurant. When a local developer destroyed the Las Rosas, the community was given a huge wake-up call to begin their efforts to preserve the Mission, historical buildings, landmarks, etc. that were important to the historical families.
With a deep respect for the history of San Juan Capistrano, we stand behind our mission statement. And as most of you know, CHAC will use whatever means necessary to be heard. The historical families and community need you to support their opposition to this development, just as we join in the thousands who opposed the Laguna Glen project. We respectfully ask you to really think about these next few questions. How does the developer get to come in and destroy whatever is in its path? When will all of you realize how fast our small town atmosphere is vanishing right in front of our eyes? What will it take to help you see how wrong this hotel and townhomes plan is for our town? The City Council has the ability to accept the referendum and protect history in San Juan Capistrano. Please do just that; protect our history.
