Cipriano Vargas and his allies favor of building high-rise, high-density apartment projects that will destroy the suburban and semi-rural character of Vista and replace it with an urban setting like Los Angeles. They have also repeatedly opposed new single-family housing, referring to family homes as “million dollar mansions”.
Cipriano Vargas has characterized the average Vista homeowner as living in a “million dollar mansion”. Vista homeowners who bought their house for $200,000, $300,000, or even $500,000 could scarcely have imagined their homes would one day be worth 1 million dollars. Even harder to imagine is that one day a 31-year-old candidate for Mayor of Vista would accuse them of living in “million-dollar mansions” or that he would advocate dismantling Prop 13 which protects our property taxes from doubling and protects our senior citizens from being taxed out of their homes.
Most difficult to imagine is that a candidate would advocate changing Vista into a high-rise, high-density, urbanized community — ending the bucolic suburban community we all love.
It’s not a bad dream. Cipriano Vargas has repeatedly mocked people who own houses worth a million-dollars — which is now half of the County. Vista’s very character is under assault by an out-of-touch radical who has never held a real job, damaged our schools, and is now coming for the city itself
At a February 22, 2022 council meeting, Councilmember, political consultant, and Cipriano Vargas ally Katie Melendez said she was okay with 25 story buildings in Vista. In an August 23, 2022 meeting she said, “I don’t believe that density is always a bad thing”.
At the June 22, 2021 council meeting, Councilwoman Corrina Contreras criticized the construction of 48 new homes in her district.
The author of Senate Bills 9 and 10, Senator Toni Atkins is also an ally of Vargas and made a maximum donation to his campaign. Both of these bills would destroy single-family neighborhoods by allowing developers to put duplexes, ADUs, or apartment units on properties that were zoned for single-family homes. Senate Bill 10 would allow apartment units to go up on those properties without any environmental review.
From United Neighbors founder Maria Pavlou Kalban, “When you look at SB 9 and 10, they are bills that have nothing to do with affordable housing, so they do nothing at all to add any kind of affordability to this problem.”
These two bills would be a disaster for Vista and its residents. Other San Diego residents may think twice about moving their family to Vista if there is more high density housing rather than single-family homes.
Cipriano Vargas would rather see Vista residents be packed in to small apartment units under the guise of “affordable housing” rather than have families invest in Vista and become long-time contributors to our community.
Don’t think projects like this aren’t happening in North County? Take a look at this that is going up in San Marcos. A massive high-rise project with no parking space that residents have already complained about saying it will ruin the view of San Marcos.
Related News and Sources
Price of Median Single-Family Home in San Diego County Hits $1 Million
https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/price-of-median-single-family-home-in-san-diego-county-hits-1-million/2942807/
Yes on Prop 15 (school board officials)
https://www.schoolsandcommunitiesfirst.org/endorsers-elected-officials
Cipriano Vargas believes a majority of Vistans live in mansions
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olbcOb0z2ro
Vargas Ally Katie Melendez supports constructing 20 story buildings in Vista
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4jYwzKSoNs
Senate Bill 9
https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billStatusClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB9
Senate Bill 10
https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billStatusClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB10
RESIDENTS STAND TOGETHER AGAINST HIGH DENSITY REZONING
http://www.thevistapress.com/residents-stand-together-against-high-density-rezoning/
Fight isn’t over for many opponents of SB 9 and 10
https://www.uscannenbergmedia.com/2021/09/23/fight-isnt-over-for-many-opponents-of-sb-9-and-10/
North City Master Plan
https://www.safdierabines.com/portfolio/north-city-master-plan/
North City developers request to increase building height limit
https://thecoastnews.com/north-city-developers-request-to-increase-building-height-limits/
Developers get flexibility to construct taller buildings in North City
https://thecoastnews.com/developers-granted-flexibility-to-construct-taller-buildings-in-north-city/