San Juan Capistrano officials spoke out Monday against plans to turn a large portion of a bucolic ranch-style campus owned by Crystal Cathedral Ministries into a bustling mail facility.
"This would destroy the gateway into our community," said Mayor Sam Allevato at a news conference on Camino Capistrano, the two-lane road overlooking the property, which is nestled between Interstate 5 and grassy hills on the northern edge of the city. "It's totally out of character for our rural ambience."
But the city may not have the authority to stop the development. Most businesses need approval from the city to develop the land, but the U.S. Postal Service, as a federal agency, could exempt itself from such laws.
That lack of control has angered city officials, who said the facility would threaten the character of the city, known for its equestrian trails, open space and historic mission.
The mail processing center would be housed in a 9-acre building and employ 300, and would be among the largest employers in the city of 36,000.
Crystal Cathedral Ministries, which operates the 10,000-member church in Garden Grove, acquired Rancho Capistrano in 1980 as a donation from John Crean, founder of RV manufacturer Fleetwood Enterprises.
Last month the group agreed to sell 78 acres of the property to the Postal Service for tens of millions of dollars. Government officials declined to give the specific amount, saying the deal wasn't in escrow yet.
The city's open space committee last month voted to oppose the mail facility; the city has considered buying the property to keep as open space.
Although the Postal Service already owns a 26-acre parcel in Aliso Viejo and is still considering putting the center there, the site in San Juan Capistrano would give the agency more room and better freeway access, said Postal Service spokesman Richard Maher.
Currently, southern Orange County's mail is sorted in Santa Ana. But as the county has grown, so has the need for a facility farther south, Maher said.
San Juan Capistrano has jealously guarded its open space and ridgelines and has opposed major commercial growth.
Officials from neighboring cities said they also vowed to fight the postal facility through resolutions but admitted there was little they could do to stop the agency.
"This is an unholy alliance between the Schullers [founders of the ministry] and the federal government," said Dana Point Mayor Diane Harkey, who predicted that vehicles from the center would compound regional traffic congestion.
