What’s next for San Juan Capistrano’s $3.3 million skatepark project

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 environmental review” for the skatepark planned near the San Juan Capistrano Ecology Center.

The lawsuit was settled in August 2022, with the city and Preserve Our Farm agreeing that the EIR made it “moot.” However, the settlement agreement says the organization is not prohibited from challenging what it sees as an issue with the project in the future.

Grindline Skateparks, which plans, designs and constructs skateparks, was hired to design the yet-to-be-named skatepark in San Juan Capistrano. Founded by the late legendary skateboarder Mark “Monk” Hubbard, it has built hundreds of parks nationally, and this project’s plans include touches that reflect San Juan Capistrano’s history, such as Spanish mission-style gates and walls as well as artwork of swallows throughout the park.

The park’s design has three bowls of varying depths, as well as a large street plaza that includes banks, hips, handrails, stairs and flat rails.

Other features of the park include a restroom, farm-themed play structure, shade structures and grass berm seating as well as a new multi-use trail connecting Via Positiva to Camino Del Avion.

Once completed, this skatepark will add to the already long list of world-famous skateboarding facilities in Orange County. Huntington Beach is being looked at as one of the top contenders to host the skateboarding competition during the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.

The next City Council meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 16 at 5 p.m. at 31421 La Matanza in San Juan Capistrano.