After weeks of heated debate within Mission Viejo, the City Council voted Tuesday to approve a developer’s plan that will provide an additional 350 apartments at the Vista Del Lago complex near Marguerite Parkway. Opponents urged the council to oppose this “high rise,” which some community activists refer to as a monster.
Based on renderings, however, the six-story Mediterranean-style building seems stylish, appropriate for the surrounding area and the type of market-based project that Orange County cities desperately need. It’s not what most people would consider a high rise — and the Register reports it will be set back in a way that it will hardly garner much notice. All new developments generate traffic, but that’s no reason to stop new housing.
The vote was a victory for common sense over NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) resistance. The council approved the matter on a 3-2 vote despite the preponderance of public comments opposing the project and an organized effort to stop it. We understand neighborhood concerns whenever some large new project is proposed nearby, but the city really had little choice given a series of newer state laws that create by-right development approvals for multi-family housing projects.
Planning Commissioner Joe Blum succinctly summarized the city’s conundrum, per a VoiceofOC report. He noted that if the commission had denied the project “the developer could come in and basically do whatever they want … Our hands are tied basically.” Per the article, commissioners pointed to Huntington Beach’s long, costly and failed legal battle to fight state housing rules. Mayor Wendy Bucknum had complained about the state’s housing mandates, but ultimately voted for the project.
Those reactions reinforce the rationale for the state’s streamlined housing laws. Without them, we’d guess this project would have been rejected. Instead, the city will gain hundreds of nice, desperately-needed apartments. The state laws gave officials the backbone to vote yes.
We wish the state would also reduce regulations for single-family homes, but Mission Viejo will see more supply. That’s the key to boosting affordability.