Kent Lihme, Mission Viejo
The hopes and dreams of 600 elderly people and their local families may be crushed—the hope for a pleasant, secure and caring home and the dream of having children and grandchildren living nearby.
Why? Because a small number of other residents say these elderly people will clog up their streets. How? By quietly living out their lives at the planned Laguna Glen senior home.
It’s sad. Every traffic study shows there would be no traffic impact. Seniors don’t drive much, certainly not during peak traffic hours. However, they do shop and volunteer within the community.
The senior facility would also provide a great deal of tax revenue and job opportunities to the community, plus greater value to the property. Without Laguna Glen, the property’s use would remain industrial agriculture—a very limited use and much less valued. But perhaps it has other uses.
The property is mostly surfaced; it has plenty of water and is close to the freeway. The current or future owners could easily erect portable buildings, sheds, fences and feed troughs for agricultural industry use—perfect as a hog farm, chicken ranch or cattle feed lot.
Of course, that would raise the noise level, create a stench, attract flies and drive away visitors to the community, but traffic would likely be minimal. Just trucks rumbling through town hauling in livestock and feed and hauling out dung. Stench and flies would go both ways.
Unfortunately, while the animals would not be as much of an asset to the community as would the seniors, San Juan Capistrano would certainly know they have an agricultural industry in the neighborhood.
Obviously that’s only one scenario, but the possibility seems more likely right now. Still, which would you prefer? What the seniors would contribute to the community or what a bunch of hogs would?
Your choice.
