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Resident urges council to halt plan to replace Town Center Park with private performing arts center
Summary
At a Oct. 7, 2025 executive-session meeting, resident Daryl Hill told the San Juan Capistrano City Council he strongly objects to a proposal he said would remove historic Town Center Park for a private performing arts center, and an unnamed council member disclosed a recusal on the item.
Daryl Hill, a San Juan Capistrano resident of 35 years, told the city council at its Oct. 7, 2025 executive-session meeting that he strongly objects to a proposal to remove historic Town Center Park to make way for a private performing arts center. "I wanna express my strong objection to the proposed destruction of the historic Town Center Park," Hill said during the public-comment period.
Hill outlined five community uses he said would be lost if the park were handed over to a developer for a private performance venue: San Juan Summer Nights; couples marrying on the park stage; the annual Christmas tree lighting and daylong celebration; and other community gatherings he described as supported by local small businesses. He said event organizers had previously been told by city personnel not to disturb the ground because, he said, the park sits atop a burial site he identified as the "Jack Jackman Indians." He also said, "as I understand it, Jay Sarah High School is the primary, the sole investor in this proposed performing arts center." Hill asked the council to hold a public hearing in the evening so working residents could attend.
An unidentified council member disclosed a recusal from agenda item 4(c), which the speaker described as "real property, historic Town Centre Park Performing Arts Centre," citing a familial connection: "I'm recusing from item 4 c ... because my son, Harrison Taylor, who rents property from me, is an employee of the negotiating party." The speaker did not state a name on the public record during that exchange.
After public comment and the recusal disclosure, the presiding official announced the council would move into executive session to discuss the listed items. No formal vote or decision on the proposed project was recorded in the public portion of the meeting.
The claims made by Hill — including the investor identity, the characterization of the site as a burial ground, and projected impacts on events and businesses — were presented as his statements during public comment and were not verified on the record at the meeting. The council did not put the item to a public vote before adjourning to executive session; further public action or a public hearing date was not announced during the recorded portion of the meeting.
