LAKE FOREST

A panel of residents and business and property owners will gather today to review preliminary plans for redevelopment of the El Toro Road corridor. The group has been meeting since July to advise planners on a proposal to dramatically reshape roads, business centers and pedestrian areas in the El Toro commercial district between Interstate 5 and Muirlands Boulevard.

City officials hope to turn the area, which has suffered from shopping center vacancies and outside competition, into an economic and social center. The panel has reviewed plans that would create wide walkways, roadside shops and beautified streets to attract pedestrians. Final redevelopment plans should be ready for review by the public by April, planners said. The redevelopment panel will meet at 7 p.m. at Lake Forest City Hall, 23161 Lake Center Drive.