Dear Mayor Bane and Members of the City Council,
We ask you to have the City to include a local BALLOT measure to be voted on by the Residents of San Clemente during the November 2020 election to raise money to fight and stop the TCA/Caltrans from destroying our Village by the Sea. Residents only support the No Build Option. It is time we stand up to protect our quality of life, health and the very reasons why we have made San Clemente our home.
We do not want a new toll road on top of our schools, homes, and business. We do not want a unneeded toll road running through our open spaces. We do not want traffic exhaust, airborne tire particulate and other pollution at our beaches or near Vista Hermosa Sports Park and Courtney's Sand Castle special needs park.
Toll lanes on the I-5 will wipe out everything along both sides of the freeway from our northern border to our southern border. It is estimated that addition of two toll lanes on the I-5 will take out approximately 350 San Clemente homes and businesses by eminent domain.
The City of Pasadena was successful in stopping the 710 extension with an annual assessment per household. It is time the Council gets a similar Ballot measure together to protect our City. The ballot measure would include a provision that every household and business in San Clemente pay a small $40.00 per year assessment to fight the TCA/Caltrans.
These funds would be used to hire a top notch Environmental Law Firm to fight to keep toll lanes off the 5 freeway and to stop the 241 toll road from extending ANYWHERE in San Clemente. We ask for this assessment to ensure that the entire City of San Clemente be a toll avoidance area forever. The assessment would be needed potentially for a 10 year period, however, it could be terminated as soon as the TCA/Caltrans was stopped and our entire City was established as an avoidance zone.
The reason that this ballot measure is imperative now, is because Caltrans/TCA/SCAG are actively pursuing 9 options, all of which unacceptably impact San Clemente and our residents. We thank you for the current lawsuits, however, we are well aware the City has not been paying the legal fees and costs for these suits and at some point both firms will settle which could result in the 241 toll road extension or new toll lanes on the 5. This assessment will provide a War Chest to protect our quality of life and our beautiful city from urban sprawl. The assessment can only be used to fight the toll road through legal action and to purchase land located in the path of the proposed roads that the City agrees to keep as open space forever.
Thank you for all you all do for our City and for your leadership on this issue.
