Downtown Vista could have a different look in a few years based on a series of changes the City Council is considering to entice more visitors with increased parking and pedestrian access.<\/p>\n
The changes were recommended by an ad hoc committee made up of city staffers, local business owners, residents and other advisory members with ties to historic downtown Vista.<\/p>\n
The changes would make the area safer, more accessible and more vibrant, Deputy Mayor Katie Melendez said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can build to that downtown that we believe in, that we know is going to deliver for all of us,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Among other recommendations for the small area downtown, the committee recommended the city limit a section of East Broadway and Main Street to one-way traffic, allow the temporary closure of South Indiana Avenue for special events and create a small downtown park.<\/p>\n
The Vista City Council voted unanimously last month to ask city staffers to bring back more details proposals that include potential environmental impacts.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was a lot of thought and a lot of going through different models and scenarios to come up with some of the recommendations in front of you,\u201d said Councilmember Corinna Contreras, who was the council liaison with the committee. \u201cIt is a long-term project, and we know that our downtown has to be able to continue to enhance.\u201d<\/p>\n
The proposed changes are for a small area bordered by Vista Village Drive to the north, Eucalyptus Avenue to the south, South Citrus Avenue to the east, and South Santa Fe Avenue to the west.<\/p>\n
Council members said they weren\u2019t thrilled with the idea of one-way traffic, but acknowledged that the area needs more parking. The proposed changes would increase public parking by an estimated 60 to 70 spaces along Main Street and East Broadway.<\/p>\n
Mayor John Franklin said he was concerned with how the city would pay for the work and recommended exploring developer contributions and park development money. The work would cost an estimated $10 million.<\/p>\n
Moneca Shelhoup, a downtown storeowner, told the City Council last month that she was concerned that construction could negatively affect businesses in the area.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can guarantee you, if you\u2019re going to rip up the street in front of my business, you\u2019re going to kill me,\u201d she told the city council last month. \u201cAnd it\u2019s not just my business; it\u2019s other businesses also.\u201d<\/p>\n
Council members said they were committed to working with residents and business owners to ensure the changes work for everyone. They said they\u2019d plan a town hall to discuss the changes with and get feedback from residents and business owners in the area.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want it to be a boon, not a bane,\u201d Councilmember Jeff Fox said.<\/p>\n
However, Shelhoup said that from her experiences, the city has a long history of ignoring the needs of businesses in the historic downtown area.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think a lot of times, they get into their positions, and they forget about the folks that make it a city,\u201d she said. \u201cI really don\u2019t feel like the City of Vista cares to listen to business owners.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her husband, Kam Shelhoup, has family ties to the downtown area going back more than 100 years. He said he knows of other businesses that have left the area because of the impact of construction.<\/p>\n
Although parking in the area is a problem, he said he thinks money would be better spent building a parking structure rather than switching to one-way traffic.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf it ain\u2019t broke, don\u2019t fix it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
There have been other redevelopment projects in central Vista over the last few decades, including the development of the Vista Village district and re-routing of traffic from the historic downtown area to Vista Village Drive.<\/p>\n
In 2020, the city completed a six-year, $30 million project to improve Paseo Santa Fe, an 0.8-mile stretch of South Santa Fe Avenue between Vista Village and Civic Center drives. At the time, business owners complained about lost business because of road construction.<\/p>\n
That project included public art, a veterans memorial park, road improvements, underground utilities lines, new sidewalks, landscaping, and two Vista signs arching over the roadway.<\/p>\n
Another project expected in the area is a five-story building with 109 apartments being planned for the lot that once housed Pepper Tree Frosty on South Santa Fe Avenue. The Vista Planning Commission held a public hearing on the plans in June with a handful of residents speaking in favor and against the proposal.<\/p>\n
In addition to switching the section of the roadways to one-way traffic and adding parking spaces, the committee is recommending a series of short- and long-term projects.<\/p>\n
Other short-term projects include creating ride-share drop-off areas, replacing trees and landscaping, adding seating areas, installing public art, improving lighting, adding bike racks and installing wayfinding signage.<\/p>\n
Longer-term projects include developing a new park at the southeast corner of Main Street and Indiana Avenue and developing a pedestrian walkway and plaza near Buena Vista Creek.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the things I love is that it keeps the historic feel of the space in downtown,\u201d Councilmember Dan O\u2019Donnell said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Downtown Vista could have a different look in a few years based on a series of changes the…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":415134,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5134],"tags":[5229,1582,276,728,50,8738,3549,3550,7264,7289,67,586,132,5230,68,2969,18013],"class_list":{"0":"post-415133","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-california","11":"tag-local-news","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-north-county","14":"tag-san-diego","15":"tag-san-diego-county","16":"tag-sandiego","17":"tag-top-stories-sdut","18":"tag-united-states","19":"tag-united-states-of-america","20":"tag-unitedstates","21":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","22":"tag-us","23":"tag-usa","24":"tag-vista"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115638919752043042","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=415133"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415133\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/415134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=415133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=415133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=415133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}