SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO : Reimbursement for Developers Is OKd

The City Council approved an agreement Tuesday allowing the developers of a downtown shopping center to be reimbursed for thousands of dollars they spent last summer on extensive archeological studies of the property.

According to the deal, approved in a 5-0 vote, developer Paul L. Farber & Associates will receive $277,365 as a partial reimbursement for $379,047 that the company spent during four months of archeological digs. The reimbursement exceeds the state law’s requirements that developers be repaid a maximum of 50% of the costs associated with archeology on their projects.

Farber & Associates will receive 50% of the amount it spent testing the 2.5-acre Franciscan Plaza project site, and 75% of what it will spend to preserve artifacts unearthed during the excavation.

The arrangement between Farber and the city requires artifacts, including foundations of two 19th-Century adobe homes, to be owned by the Community Redevelopment Agency. Terms of the deal also allow the city to control 131 parking spaces in a four-level structure, which will be reserved in the daytime for train commuters leaving from the San Juan Capistrano depot.