Council will receive an overview of the City’s extensive, proactive efforts for LOS OSOS project Oct. 24

Much needed update to Mission Viejo. The renderings presented to the public are wonderful. I for one am very excited about the transition of this area. The current area is very dates and not appealing at all. Having the new Los Osos downtown will provide a wonderful area for all ages to enjoy.

I have been a resident in Mission Viejo since 1969 .
I am excited to see all these new exciting projects in our City .

Good ok !

I would love to see a safe fun place for our community to hang out in. The mission viejo mall doesn’t feel even remotely safe anymore. The kaleidoscope is dead. I’d like to see a fun robust place - but I’d like the city to really take into consideration traffic and safety of our community

I love this project! I have attended the multiple meetings and on Tuesday toured the Oso Creek Trail to see the partnership with Santa Margarita water district for the joint development of the trail and new water treatment plant that will be named Los Oso. I’ve seen the renderings and can’t wait for the project to start! This is going to be a beautiful addition to our city, adding commerce, additional entertainment venue within our community, enhanced trails and much more. We are so fortunate that we have innovative city staff working on the vision plans to always reinvigorate our community.

The Vrabel family is fully supportive of the City’s Los Osos project. Mission Viejo is a beautiful community and we are proud to have called it home for over 20 years, however, much of it is tired and this is a wonderful way to start to bring the city core into the 21st century. We need a Main Street in our community that we are proud of. This is our starting point and we truly hope the community agrees and supports this initiative. Best regards, The Vrabels

What are you willing to sacrifice in order to pay for this $56 million vision plan?

With the purchase of the golf course, street sweeping was cut from the budget and added to our Waste Management Trash bills.

For the Stein Mart purchase, when the council was presented with $46 million in vision plan bond financing with an annual debt of over $3 million - these were the proposed budget cuts for FY 23/24 - please note that the Vision plan has a new name:

Core Area Vision Plan Funding

Projected Debt Service Needs

Eliminate Kid's Factory subsidy - $482,000
Eliminate library subsidy - $298,000
Reduce animal services subsidy - - $50,000
Reduce slope rehabilitation budget - - $128,000
Reduce landscape maintenance budget - - $143,000
Reduce tree trimming budget - - $100,000
Cut Recreation subsidy by 15% - - $267,000
Reduce Economic Development budget $50,000
Mall Rolling Reserve - $997,000

Total projected funding available for debt service - - $ 3,021,000

Source: 09/21/2021 Council Agenda for Item # 19B -

There are so few places in the city that feel natural, quiet and peaceful I prefer it stays as it is.

I moved to Mission Viejo last March. Since then I have been closely following the plans for this project. The vision is absolutely spectacular. It will serve the needs of every group in this community and will turn a rather sad-looking core area into one that all residents can enjoy and be proud of. I favor this project 100% and will be at the October 24 meeting to show my support. If you're reading this, you, too, should attend that meeting!

Why has the city waited until the last minute to discuss the cost of this project?

In September 2021, the project estimate was $46 million. Since then — for TWO years — the city has been unwilling to discuss the cost of the project. It’s an incredibly poor business practice and an extreme lack of transparency to keep this information from the public until the city council meeting when the project is up for approval. We’re at the “closing table” and the public is seeing the nearly $68 million price tag for the first time. That’s appalling.

Why has the public been kept in the dark about the cost of the project? It leads me to wonder who is benefiting and/or will benefit from this project.

I’ve heard the city equate the project to a city park. Have we ever spent $68 million to develop a park?

What are the opportunity costs? How else could we spend this $68 million dollars?

As a 48 year resident of Mission Viejo,I cannot tell you how excited I am about the Los Osos Project. This center has been in decline for too many years, and the vision that the City has will make this a wonderful, updated area for all of the residents to enjoy. I cannot wait to “come and play in my own backyard”.

At least the homeless will have a great place to sleep at night and bathe in what must be a water feature, because that depiction is not Oso Creek.
Hopefully the city will have eradicated the mosquitoes plaguing us by then and will figure out where it will generate our new revenue stream, once it bulldozes all of the businesses that occupy that land.

The staff is expecting the City Council to approve an estimated $55 million in expenditures for a single district. For Brian Goodell‘s District #2, he also wants an additional $15 million to be spent in his district for a parking garage.

That is $71 million being syphoned out of our treasury for a single district, District # 2.

For contrast, the current annual budget is about $97 million. To show how the costs to run our City have been increasing, from my last year on the council, the budget was about $68 million for 2016/17.

It should be noted that this vision plan, created by consultants, was submitted to 17 development firms. Apparently, they did not see an avenue for success, so no one applied for the job. That should be a red flag. Maybe because the PRIVATE INDUSTRY is aware that the National Restaurant Association estimates a 20% success rate for all restaurants. About 60% of restaurants fail in their first year of operation, and 80% fail within 5 years of opening.

The city staff is presenting leakage data to justify the expenditures. But the reports are all pretty pictures and encouraging words but lack financial statistics that show the return of investment for this financial commitment.

How are we going to get back our $55 million?

With the purchase of the Stein Mart building, it is bad enough that there was a government take-over of private property; but now to become landlords and possibly subsidize private businesses as an enticement to become partners in this venture is not the road that this council should take our city down.

Excited to see this vision come to fruition! Mission Viejo was a great place to grow up and now a great place to raise a family. I look forward to the revitalization of the downtown core and the community building and tax revenue it will bring with it.

My family and I wholeheartedly support the Los Osos r& Core Area renovation plan and can’t wait to enjoy all the benefits it gets us.

Our only questions are:
- When will the construction actually start?
- And when will the whole renovation be completed?

We live exactly in the core area and our everyday life will be impacted, which means we must bear lots of inconvenience (like changing routes to work and school) during the construction, and we must adapt to many changes that brings us. However, no pains no gains. We choose to live in a better future with a nicer neighborhood instead of staying in the past. Please, start the Los Osos project sooner than later and we are happier living in our dream lifestyle. :)