Residents press council on Vista Del Lago outreach and parking; calls for structured parking

Several Mission Viejo residents raised concerns about development outreach and parking during the public‑comment portion of the April 14 meeting.

Debbie (Debbie) Lewandowski, a longtime North Mission Viejo resident, told the council she believed the city accepted many developer requests on the Vista Del Lago project with "little to no discussion about parking or a broader neighborhood impact" and said notices were limited to "homes within roughly 300 feet of the site rather than the broader communities that will clearly be affected." Lewandowski asked what negotiations took place and whether the city pushed back on developer requests.

"Why didn't the city meaningfully negotiate with Equity Residential on the Vista Del Lago project?" Lewandowski asked, urging consistent scrutiny and transparency across projects.

Tom Moore, also a resident, recommended the city explore a parking structure rather than more surface parking, proposing a 2–3‑story solution that could serve the golf course, tennis facility and YMCA and avoid consuming more open ground. "I would just request that you look at a parking structure, 2, maybe 3 story parking structure," Moore said.

Mayor Buckton and staff responded that negotiation with developers is constrained by state law in some respects, and the city manager and staff offered to have more detailed discussion in the traffic committee and to explore a parking‑permit program for neighborhoods if the neighborhood buys into it. Staff confirmed the city’s standard public‑notice radius is 300 feet and that HOAs are notified as well.

The council did not take immediate action on grievance items during the meeting but asked staff to follow up with more information and to consider neighborhood parking strategies in future committee discussions.