San Juan Capistrano council tables proposed Performing Arts Center after hours of public comment

The San Juan Capistrano City Council on Oct. 21 unanimously voted to table consideration of a proposed, privately funded Performing Arts Center to give the public and council additional time to review comments and new information.

Supporters, led by project volunteers, said the nonprofit center would expand cultural programming and youth opportunities without using city general‑fund dollars. Scott McGregor, chairman of the San Juan Capistrano Performing Arts Center nonprofit, told the council the facility "is going to enable a very wide range of performance art, music, dance, speaker series, children's programs, and also cultural programs that represent our community," and said the project would be funded through philanthropy.

Opponents raised concerns about the project’s size, loss of public parkland, parking, circling traffic impacts, and threats to the town’s historic character. "If you let this inappropriate, unnecessary new project be built, it's going to happen over and over again," said Gail Fayad, urging the council to protect the mission and park. Longtime residents also said the proposed scale would be out of character with the downtown.

Other testimony focused on process and outreach: several speakers said many residents first learned of the proposal only recently and asked for more public workshops and visual demonstrations (story poles/site markers) before a final decision. Tribal representatives said the applicant is coordinating cultural‑resource monitoring to protect ancestral materials during any ground disturbance.

Council members cited the volume and variety of public comment in explaining the decision to delay. After the public hearing closed, the council moved to table the item "until we get a little bit more time to process some of the comments and some of the new information," and the motion passed unanimously.

The tabling means no substantive approvals were made at the meeting; councilmembers said they expect the item to return only after additional community engagement and when staff and the applicant can respond to concerns about scale, traffic mitigation, cultural resources and how the project would affect Historic Town Center Park.

The record shows robust neighborhood divide: some residents described the center as a once‑in‑a‑generation opportunity to bring regional arts to South Orange County, while others insisted the downtown’s scale and parkland should remain protected. The council did not set a return date when it tabled the item; members instructed staff to facilitate further outreach and to work with the applicant on clarifying plans and mitigation measures.