Harbor Village: making the grade

I first noticed the big earth movers at the Harbor Village site on Monday. I stopped by today to take some pictures. If you don’t pass by the Harbor every day, you may not even know this is happening. The pictures don’t begin to convey scale of the project, nor can you get it from driving by.  Only after I got out of my car and walked around the lot did I begin to get an idea of how big this project is.

It’s hard to get close to it right now because Capistrano is closed for resurfacing, but this site is definitely worth a visit. In the meantime, take a look at the pictures.  You can get a larger view in a separate window by clicking on the pictures. Plans of the project are also available on Coastsider.

The project’s opponents have protested the the county that the developer does not plan to honor his development agreement, and the county has informed the developer that the whole project, including the hotel, must be completed by next June.

One bizarre aspect of this struggle is that the project’s opponents are insisting that the entire thing (including the hotel) be built, instead of a scaled-back version that includes only retail, with the idea that the developer can’t deliver.

Click on the "read more" link to see more, closer, pictures of the site.

Barry Parr

A little closer to the buildings at the main entrance on Capistrano.

Barry Parr

These graders are scraping up the earth from near Capistrano, hauling it to the north end of the lot and dumping it there.

Barry Parr

This is where they’re dropping the soil at the north end of the lot, looking east toward Highway 1 and the hills.