Town Center on Council Agenda

The City Council tonight will consider a Town Center plan that has a goal of creating a business hub to entice residents and visitors to walk, shop and dine downtown.

City officials have worked to develop Town Center, bounded by Pacific Coast Highway, Blue Lantern and Del Obispo streets, since adopting a General Plan in 1991.

The council has already approved a beautification program to plant trees along Coast Highway and improve sidewalks.

“The vision is to create a high-quality small town in coastal downtown,” said Lance B. Schulte, the city’s senior planner. “We want to create an area that is lively but not overcrowded.”

The second phase of the project, which is on tonight’s council agenda, proposes several changes, among them moving some businesses to the center of the area to ease traffic congestion in nearby neighborhoods.

Three public workshops will be scheduled later for Town Center business owners and city officials to review and revise the plans.

“It’s a project and process that has involved business, property owners and the community,” Schulte said of the Town Center development. “It’s an ongoing effort.”

The council meets at 5:30 p.m. at 33282 Golden Lantern, Suite 210.

Information: (714) 248-9890.