Mission Viejo residents are rallying against the proposed expansion of an apartment complex that would add a six-story building with hundreds of new units.
A developer is proposing an addition to the Vista Del Lago apartment complex off Marguerite Parkway that includes demolishing 68 units and replacing them with 418 units and a new parking structure for a total of 350 new apartment units.
That would create a grand total of 958 units at the 33-acre property.
Planning commissioners gave their approval for the project during a meeting last month. As an advisory body, commissioners can only make recommendations to the city council.
Council members are expected to consider the project during their next meeting on March 10.
Residents spoke at the planning commission meeting on Feb. 9 to voice concerns about the size of the project and impacts on traffic, parking, noise and general congestion in the area.
“Don’t put this mega giant development in the middle of a very highly concentrated area that already has problems,” one speaker said at the meeting.
Others said six stories is unreasonable for Mission Viejo.
“I don’t like it,” another resident said. “It just looks like Irvine mixed with a little bit of San Clemente.”
Some residents also voiced concern about affordable housing, asking city leaders to add more units for low-income Orange County residents.
The proposed project includes 53 affordable housing units, with 27 reserved for low-income households and 26 for very-low-income families.
In Orange County, a family of four would be considered low income if it makes less than $135,500 annually, according to state income limits.
A family of four would be considered very low income if it makes less than $84,600 per year.
Officials Grapple With Local Control Under State Mandates
While some residents urged city leaders to deny the project, commissioners said their hands were largely tied due to state-mandated housing numbers and statewide legislation that makes it easier for developers to bypass local control over housing developments.
AB 130, signed into law last year, eases certain California Environmental Quality Act restrictions on housing projects, making it easier for developers to create housing projects faster.
“We’ve gone through many meetings, face-to-face with the applicant, with our staff, and we want you to know that we have done everything we can — besides denying it and putting the city under jeopardy,” Commissioner Joe Blum said at the meeting. “And if we did that, the developer could come in and basically do whatever they want … Our hands are tied basically.”
Mission Viejo’s mandated Regional Housing Needs Assessment allocation is 2,217 units, according to the city’s housing element for 2021-2029. That means the city needs to plan to build 2,217 housing units across various income levels by 2029 in order to comply with the state.
Mission Viejo planning commissioners also pointed to Huntington Beach, a city that’s spent millions of dollars unsuccessfully fighting the state against housing requirements.
[Read: Huntington Beach Blocks State Housing Law, Sets Up Confrontation with CA Attorney General]
“Millions of dollars of your tax money would be wasted suing the state on this issue,” Commissioner Robert Breton said at the meeting. “You’re going to lose. It’s not worth it.”
Huntington Beach recently lost its yearslong battle against housing mandates after U.S. Supreme Court Justices declined to hear the city’s case.
[Read: US Supreme Court Goes Dark on Huntington Beach’s Housing Battle Against Sacramento]
Breton said he has a duty to approve the Mission Viejo project as long as it’s in compliance with the law.
“I wish I could vote to deny, but that would just lead us down the road to further ruin,” Breton said. “We would lose the lawsuits. There’s nothing we could do. The answer to this is: vote.”
Some residents supported the project since it provides affordable units in line with the city’s inclusionary housing ordinance.
“I want to acknowledge that change is hard,” Mission Viejo resident Cathy Palmer said at the meeting. “I also want to acknowledge that we need more housing, and if we look at our current housing situation, I know that my daughter can’t afford to buy a house in Mission Viejo. So she bought a house in Orange.”
Mission Viejo resident Debbie Lewandowski said the building expansion would negatively impact nearby residents’ quality of life.
“Hundreds of additional residents means hundreds of additional daily car trips,” she said. “Our streets are already busy with families, kids walking to school, people walking their dogs and cyclists. Adding this level of density will increase congestion, unsafe crossing and cut-through traffic.
She also brought up concerns about environmental effects.
“More cars means more idling, more smog and more noise,” Lewandowski said. “That directly affects the health and liveability of our neighborhood.”
Angelina Hicks is the Voice of OC Collegiate News Service Editor. Contact her at ahicks@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @angelinahicks13.
