Public Outcry Saves South OC Community Event After Permit Uncertainty

SAN CLEMENTE, CA — A free community event in South Orange County is here to stay after San Clemente city officials opted out of canceling permits for the weekly Cars and Coffee event.

Cars and Coffee, a bustling outdoor event held just off the 5 Freeway in San Clemente, brings hundreds of residents to the city's outlets every week.

The event consists also attracts between 1000 and 3000 vehicles attend each week, including hypercars, supercars, exotics, vintage, classic, muscle and sports cars, hot rods, rat rods, pickups, 4x4's and motor cycles.

All participating car owners can join in on the event free of charge, with no registration required, organizers say.

According to organizer Simon Wehr, the event is the biggest weekly classic car show in the world.

Despite its success, the program came under fire in early January as San Clemente City Officials considered altering the permit for the event or discarding it altogether.

The reason for this, city officials said, was due to issue of necessary enforcement after the show.

"From a review of the Cars and Coffee operations, the event operators are abiding by the established conditions of approval," a staff report read. "However, there is evidence of off-site vehicle code violations by some participants and/or spectators arriving to, or leaving from, the event."

City staff cited one particular incident in which a group of motorcycles scattered off at speeds over 100 miles per hour after deputies flashed lights due to one or more violations.

However, during a scheduled public hearing at the San Clemente City Council meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 20, councilmembers agreed to table the staff proposal to modify the existing permit for the event after hearing hours of positive public testimony about the program.

"Thank you, truly, for your support over this last week while we worked with The City of San Clemente to navigate the future of our CUP," Wehr told Patch. "To the 5,000+ petition signers, the 1M+ people who viewed our content regarding this situation, and the insane amount of people that attended and spoke at last night's hearing — we are beyond grateful."

To learn more about South OC Cars and Coffee, visit its website.