San Clemente City Council

The City Council Wednesday unanimously approved a water-rationing law that would take effect during dry spells and threaten violators with fines of up to $100 in what is the toughest measure of its kind in Southern California.

The state attorney general has concluded that acting Orange County Sheriff Jack Anderson broke the law last year when he appeared in uniform before the San Clemente City Council and tried to discourage it from endorsing a former lieutenant for sheriff.

To live in this city is to live in comparative isolation. Off Interstate 5, miles from the nearest major commercial areas both north and south of the city, San Clemente has long been starved for sales tax revenue. Many residents jealously guard the city's status as a peaceful bedroom community and have vigorously opposed commercial projects that would have increased the flow of sales tax dollars into city coffers. As a result, several of the 11 candidates running for three seats in the Nov.

Talked out of lobbying for a former sheriff's lieutenant to replace indicted and now retired Sheriff Michael S. Carona last year, the San Clemente City Council had second thoughts late Tuesday. The council agreed Tuesday night to write a letter to Orange County supervisors asking them to appoint former Lt. Bill Hunt as a permanent replacement for Carona, who is facing federal corruption charges.

In a city known for its former recall drives and intense campaigns involving up to 36 candidates, probably the most notable thing so far about the current campaign for two open City Council seats is an unusual sense of calm.

I want to clarify my position on the proposed toll road ("San Clemente City Races," Sept. 28). I am opposed to any construction project that would be detrimental to the environment and disruptive to neighborhoods in proximity to it. I believe that the voters should be given more information and that the entire issue should be placed on the ballot. I am particularly concerned about its effect on San Clemente. Many questions, to my mind, are still unanswered. JAY DURKIN San Clemente Jay Durkin is a candidate for the San Clemente City Council.

The City Council is scheduled to discuss enforcement of parking regulations in the city's older neighborhoods at its meeting tonight. Orange County Sheriff's Lt. Fred Lisanti, San Clemente's chief of police services, is expected to report on parking in neighborhoods and the Pier Bowl area before the council determines whether changes are needed in the city's parking code.

I received my San Clemente Nuclear Emergency Information Packet in the mail today. Evacuation directions ... gulp. My first impulse ... read and discard. A nuclear disaster here? Naw ... then I reflect on Sept. 11, and Zap! -- onto the fridge door it goes. Now every time I go for the mayo I reflect on my own personal nuclear winter. My home is my office, strategically located 4.5 miles due north of San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, or SONGS, the sweetest-sounding acronym for "Nobody Gets Out Alive."

The San Clemente City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to stop issuing building permits to developers until a new law regulating backcountry growth takes effect later this month. The urgency ordinance, effective today, prohibits issuing residential building permits for developments larger than four units until March 27. That is when the Growth Management Ordinance overwhelmingly adopted by the city's voters last week goes into effect.

The San Clemente City Council has approved a development agreement for 1,770 acres in Forster Ranch, a project that could include more than 2,100 houses and condominiums and a site for a new civic center for Orange County's southernmost city. The agreement, approved Feb. 27 and effective March 27, ends years of struggle between the city and Estrella Properties, which has sold the land to Dallas-based Centex contingent on passage of the ordinance.

Orange County Sheriff Michael S. Carona faced increased scrutiny Friday for suspending his chief opponent in the bitterly fought election, with the mayor of San Clemente demanding reinstatement of the veteran law enforcement officer and the county Board of Supervisors questioning the action. The San Clemente City Council on Monday will consider a formal resolution in support of Lt.

I received my San Clemente Nuclear Emergency Information Packet in the mail today. Evacuation directions ... gulp. My first impulse ... read and discard. A nuclear disaster here? Naw ... then I reflect on Sept. 11, and Zap! -- onto the fridge door it goes. Now every time I go for the mayo I reflect on my own personal nuclear winter. My home is my office, strategically located 4.5 miles due north of San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, or SONGS, the sweetest-sounding acronym for "Nobody Gets Out Alive."

Steve Apodaca, a former mayor of San Clemente who worked on an array of city commissions and volunteer groups from Bobby Sox to the local Rotary Club, died Monday after he apparently shot himself at his home, authorities said. He was 50. Apodaca, who owned an international insurance brokerage and in recent years also worked as a political consultant, was found dead in the backyard of his San Clemente home shortly before 11 a.m, officials said.

San Clemente's City Council voted unanimously Wednesday to negotiate with the Festival of the Arts, a longtime Laguna Beach summer event, about relocating to a site near the new Talega development. Festival President Sherri Butterfield said the art organization had inquiries from Long Beach and Del Mar about relocating but would prefer to stay in coastal Orange County.

The City Council is scheduled to discuss enforcement of parking regulations in the city's older neighborhoods at its meeting tonight. Orange County Sheriff's Lt. Fred Lisanti, San Clemente's chief of police services, is expected to report on parking in neighborhoods and the Pier Bowl area before the council determines whether changes are needed in the city's parking code.

Regarding the "Orange County Voices" opinion column by Steve Apodaca on May 2: I read with utter amazement and humor the column by Apodaca regarding SB 1277, the state bill that would protect our state park system from decimation caused by roads being built through them. SB 1277 has at its core a simple value: protection of our quality of life and our state park system. State parks were created for all the residents and visitors to enjoy and to protect our natural resources.

San Clemente's City Council voted unanimously Wednesday to negotiate with the Festival of the Arts, a longtime Laguna Beach summer event, about relocating to a site near the new Talega development. Festival President Sherri Butterfield said the art organization had inquiries from Long Beach and Del Mar about relocating but would prefer to stay in coastal Orange County.

San Clemente City Council members, concerned about the effect of increased traffic on the air, voted Wednesday to seek a pollution-monitoring station in the city. The city will ask the South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD) to install a station to "keep track of whether the air quality degenerates or remains the same in this region," said James S. Holloway, community development director.