Mission Viejo Buzz - 06/23/12

The Buzz

Stop the Vegas-style billboards. Mission Viejo residents are strongly reacting against a proposal to create a signage zone from Avery Parkway to La Paz, allowing JumboTron-style electronic billboards. The proposal comes from Colby Durnin of Kaleidoscope, and it has the support of at least three council members: Frank Ury, Trish Kelley and Dave Leckness. Cheering the proposal from the sidelines is Wendy Bucknum, a lobbyist who has announced her council candidacy for the November election. To view a website opposing the sign proposal, go to http://stopthetackylights.com/

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Kaleidoscope, which opened in 1998, has been charitably characterized as an “underperforming” retail center. From its initial financing with redevelopment money to its 2010 foreclosure and beyond, the center has had a high turnover of tenants. With access and parking as obstacles to shopping, suggestions for making the building a financial success include changing it to office space. The signage proposal from Durnin appears to be a last-ditch effort, placing 60-foot by 20-foot digital billboards on all sides of the building. Despite the outlandish proposal from a desperate owner, no one should be surprised that the out-of-touch Mission Viejo council majority supports his visual assault on the community.

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Smoke and mirrors? What’s behind City Hall’s big push to rezone portions of the city with regard to fire maps? When the council started talking about rezoning 3,000 Mission Viejo homes to Very High Fire Hazard areas, residents voiced their concerns about potential negative impacts on insurance rates and property values, plus fines if property owners don’t comply with reducing fire risks. The city council voted during its June 18 meeting to adopt the newly coined description, “special fire protection area.” Where did the council get such a phrase? The Fire Authority lumps the two descriptions together as one and the same. No resident should fall for such deception, approved with a 4-1 vote, with Councilwoman Cathy Schlicht dissenting. The only debate is whether the terminology is outright deceit or a half-step toward renaming significant portions of the city to Very High Fire Hazard areas. The biggest difference between the Fire Authority’s goal of naming the zones Very High Fire Hazard areas and the city council majority’s response of “special fire protection areas” is the number of homes involved. Approximately 15,000 homes are in the latter category, which should make an additional 12,000 homeowners feel very “special.”

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When residents have opposed rezoning to Very High Fire Hazard areas, they’ve cited city and county negligence regarding vegetation near their properties as being the primary source, if not the only source of increased risk. The Mission Viejo city staff, particularly Keith Rattay, has been obsessed for years with trees and shrubs to the point city-owned property is overplanted and then neglected. Rattay has spent enormous sums of taxpayer dollars on Mission Viejo’s status as an Arbor City of one-million trees. If anyone should be cited for creating fire risks, it is City Hall.

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Capo Trustee Ellen Addonizio was Saddleback Republican Assembly’s featured speaker at its June 21 meeting. She addressed the district’s $50-million deficit and described how CUSD changed rapidly from having a balanced budget in November 2010. When union-supported trustees were elected to the board, the new majority’s first steps were to restore pay cuts to the union members who had empowered them. Trustees who support the union are Gary Pritchard, Lynn Hatton, John Alpay, Jack Brick and Anna Bryson. Up for reelection in November are Pritchard, Alpay and Brick. A fourth seat is in play, following redistricting, which includes portions of Mission Viejo, San Juan Capistrano, Ladera Ranch and Coto de Caza.

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Fun With Chalk has a new location. Since its beginning in 1999, approximately 200,000 visitors have experienced the yearly street-painting festival. On Saturday and Sunday, July 14 and 15, the event will be held for the first time in Rancho Santa Margarita. The hours are 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and admission is free. Enjoy the artwork, professional art demonstrations and entertainment, along with moderately priced food and beverages. The location will be the Bell Tower Community Center and Parking Lot, 22232 El Paseo, Rancho Santa Margarita. For additional information, call the hotline, 877-WECHALK or go to http://www.funwithchalk.org