The ball is rolling on a $3.3 million San Juan Capistrano skatepark project.
The project, located on the site of the previous Kinoshita Farm, has been in the works since 2017, but due to legal challenges that began in May 2022, the completion of the skatepark was delayed until July 2023.
Now, the 20,000-square-foot skatepark, which will connect to a neighboring multi-use trail, is ready to go through its final approval process by the City Council to soon begin construction.
The City Council will decide in January whether to approve findings from an environmental impact report, which provides a detailed look at the project’s environmental effects and ways to minimize potential hazards during development. That EIR has already been approved by the city’s planning commission, which additionally accepted a rezoning plan for the property in December.
Originally zoned for agriculture, the property needs to be rezoned to be designed as a skatepark project. The proposed plan includes not only the skatepark but a trail and associated facilities as well.
The EIR highlighted possible concerns from the project, including a be loss of agricultural land, increased noise from the proposed project at residences across Camino Del Avion and efficiency of short-term bike parking and street parking along Camino Del Avion.
If the City Council agrees to move forward with the additional design plans during its upcoming Jan. 16 meeting, construction is anticipated to begin in March, said Matisse Reischl, the assistant city manager.
The skatepark is expected to be completed by September 2024, Reischl said.
This skatepark has been in the works for years, initially proposed to the city in 2017 but requested by residents and community members for decades prior. It was originally scheduled to be completed by the summer of 2023, but a lawsuit filed by local nonprofit Preserve Our Farm San Juan Capistrano halted it.
The group alleged that the city did not “conduct a proper…
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