SAN CLEMENTE : Council Puts Freeze on Building Permits

Concerned about a serious water shortage, the City Council imposed an immediate 90-day freeze on new building permits.

Officials said the freeze would give the city time to determine how projects already under way will affect water supplies. This in turn will help the city determine what new projects can be allowed without putting too great a strain on the water supply, said Community Development Director James Holloway.

“We need to figure out how to phase development so that it doesn’t get ahead of water improvements,” Holloway said. “The balance issue is very crucial.”

Under the emergency ordinance, people can still apply for building and construction permits, but they will not be issued until the 90-day ban expires.

The city staff will return to the council at the end of three months with a plan on how development permits should be allocated in the next two years.

The ordinance also gives the council authority to stop all new construction in the event of a city-mandated water emergency. It does not apply to projects already under construction. Also exempted are building additions and improvements that would increase water usage by less than 25%.

Because rapid growth has overwhelmed the city’s aging water delivery system, officials are concerned that new developments over the next two years could outstrip existing water supplies for the growing seaside community of 35,000.

Relief is expected in mid-1991, when a larger imported water pipe under construction from El Toro to San Clemente is expected to be complete.

Until then, officials fear a repeat of a severe water shortage that occurred unexpectedly last summer, when the city’s main reservoir at the Tri-Cities Water District dropped from 34 million gallons to 17 million gallons between June and August.