Planning Commission Gives Go-Ahead to Mixed-Use Development South of Downtown

BY C. JAYDEN SMITH

After three decades of visitors seeing a vacant lot when exiting near Avenida Valencia onto El Camino Real, that property is closer to boasting a new development per a Planning Commission vote two weeks ago.

The commission on Jan. 18 unanimously voted to approve the Calvada mixed-use project at 1430 S. El Camino Real, which includes 10 apartments and four commercial suites with offices on the second floor, as well as a combined 49 parking stalls and more than 20,000 square feet.

Additionally, the inclusion of one unit reserved for low-income rent (10%) qualifies the structure for Califor- nia’s Density Bonus Law, allowing the project’s architectural firm to receive one concession in installing guardrails on the building’s third story.

Planning Chair Scott McKhann said he thought the building, as designed by Hannibal Petrossi, owner of the Petrossi & Associates architectural firm, was “absolutely extraordinary.”

“I know that staff and the Design Review Subcommittee worked on it a bunch, but the architect and the owner were willing to make the changes,” he said, adding: “I think the finished, designed product is absolutely fantastic.

It’s a 10-plus.”

Petrossi and his team met with the you could call it, in terms of volume and how you’re looking at the quantities of the ingredients being used.”

Another aspect Artifex asked ChatGPT to try out was writing and designing an image and label for potential cans.

The team knew it wanted a character wearing an apron while holding a beer in one hand and a broom in the other, so it let the AI generate new images repeatedly. Johur said they will send their current image to the can designer they normally work with for feedback, but that the AI will continually handle most of the tasks related to the beer.

“It’s responsive, it does what you want it to do, but, yeah, it’s not perfect,” he said.

Overall, however, the team was “blown away” by what ChatGPT accomplished in writing the recipe, designing a cover image, and writing a press release.

Johur said the team has been excited about the beer and went through a whole keg of it on Jan. 25, when it was first produced.

In a media release from Artifex announcing the AI-created beer, Johur said he was “excited to see how the public will respond to this unique creation. We believe that A.I. opens the door to countless new brewing possibilities. We even had ChatGPT write this press release!”

The public feedback for the A.I.pa has also been positive, as Johur said people have been surprised that a “computer-generated recipe is tasting like this.”

Artifex has scheduled another batch to be made in the next few weeks, but they wanted to merely test out how the IPA would be received before scaling up the production fully.

Johur commented on how in the previous 13 years he has spent as a brewer, he was always certain in the ways he was taught to conceptualize a recipe. That he can use AI now is a sign of times changing and traditions evolving, he said.

“This was something that, 10 years ago, if you told me I would have a computer writing a beer recipe, I would’ve lost my mind,” said Johur. “I would’ve been like, ‘You’re crazy.’ ”

He added that he enjoyed the creative process, and that he expects to see more examples with brewing in the future.

Artifex has two locations in San Clemente, its brewery and taproom located at 919 Calle Amanecer, Suite A, and its taproom in downtown at 98 Avenida Del Mar.

DRSC in June and November of 2022 during the design process.

Commissioner Brent Davis commended DRSC’s help in previous meetings to get the project in front of the full body of the Planning Commission.

“It’s a nasty eyesore, and I’m thrilled that we’re this far along in the process to getting a project like this approved,” Davis said.

Of the affordable housing component, Economic Development Director Jonathan Lightfoot said the project does not meet the city’s own Inclusionary Housing standard of reserving at least 4% for very-low-income renters. Lightfoot said the developers must pay an in-lieu fee of $95,267.

McKhann questioned whether the potential name for the development, “Moana Landing,” would fit with the required Spanish Colonial Revival architecture once it’s completed and whether to change the name. City staff said the city didn’t have the authority to require a name change, leading McKhann to simply encourage the developers to reconsider.

Throughout the discussion, commissioners also discussed giving the design team flexibility in urban open space uses on the first floor of the parking garage and ensuring that mechanical units on the roof would be hidden from the public.

Petrossi said his team was thrilled to be on the corner of El Camino Real and Avenida Valencia, right in front of people visiting San Clemente. He also expressed that they are speaking with numerous restaurants to find a tenant. They are also looking forward to eventually breaking ground once the project gets all of its approvals.