Artsyrat wrote on Oct 24, 2008 2:19 PM:I fought hard against the City of Vista on their Redevelopment Amendment #4 where they included residential properties in their redevelopment plan. But here, I am looking forward with anticipation the beginning of the commercial South Santa Fe cooridor project. I just hope they think before they act on anything they purchase and when they do, it would be with fairness and integrity. Vista needs redevelopment, but it should not be at the expense of someone else not wanting to sell their property, particularly single family dwellings.

Let's see the Santa Fe project begin. That's a good thing. Oh yeh, let's keep PepperTree, a family place with years of nastalgia and neighborhood history. I heard it was going to be sacrificed for the sake of the redeve. That would be tragic....can't it just be remodeled?

Ditto that wrote on Oct 24, 2008 10:49 PM:The only folks that would force out Pepper Tree would be non-Vistans. It's part of the city, and exactly what you want downtown. I'll take a shake from their over anything Cold Stone has, thank you. How about blasting the old auto parts store that's an eye sore.

Schools Hurt wrote on Oct 25, 2008 5:50 AM:The government is buying private property for profit. City government is exempt from paying property taxes, which means a decrease in revenue for our school district. Sure buying property will help council crony developers and construction unions but it will hurt our schools. Vote out the incumbents!

CPO USN-Retired wrote on Oct 25, 2008 7:38 AM:I fully agree with Artsyrat, Vista needs to keep PepperTree intact as a historic property. Too many cities seem to jump in and destroy their heritage/history as a sacrifice for redevelopment. Modern is not always better.

to schools hurt wrote on Oct 25, 2008 9:39 AM:Schools don't necessarily hurt when Vista does this. It really depends on the nature of the development agreement or land sale the city may undertake to reach their vision or goal for the area. If the city acquires enough contiguous property for an attractive development to private developers, the city could sell the land to a developer with the agreement that they build a certain desired project. In that scenario, property taxes are paid because the city would no longer own the land. To redevelop that area of Vista, the city may need to sell some of it back to private ownership because developers are always wearing of doing deals on ground leases. They want to own the land. Vista and the developer enter into a development agreement whereas the city sells whatever land to such and such developer so as the developer delivers such and such project by such and such timeframe, etc.
Schools won't hurt at all. Be happy Vista is investing in redevelopment aggresively. Everyone will benefit from it.

James wrote on Oct 25, 2008 10:18 AM:Why is Vista spending money like a drunken sailor on shore leave? It's Morris Vance, I'm sure. ...

Salty wrote on Oct 25, 2008 10:21 AM:Keep the peepertree? The tree itself died years ago! Rip it out! Put in a Baskin-Robbins instead, next to the Barnes & Noble that Rawlings wants.

To Salty wrote on Oct 25, 2008 10:50 AM:and tear out that UGLY VFW building. Bet they'd like a new one anyway!

Artsyrat wrote on Oct 25, 2008 11:01 AM:Baskin-Robbins/Barnes & Noble that Rawlings wants. Rawlings doesn't even live in Vista!!!

The PepperTree location is unique and historic, a long time favorite for many local neighborhoods. What would be cool is to refurbish that entire location, keeping the historic aspect of it and creating an updated and desired environment there. Maybe gearing the multiple buildings there into the already established IceCream Shop, a nice people friendly PepperTree garden with patroling law enforcement to keep it safe, a book store with reader/computer people friendly areas and some sort of Art related/gallery type with a coffee shop. A PepperTree, come and sit, enjoy art, books, coffee and icecream right here, kind of atmosphere. All the while keeping the historic nature of the complex. Vista needs to develop it's own identity, not someone elses already overused ideas. PepperTree is unique to Vista, why sacrifice that?

Baskin Robbins...who cares, boring.....

Pbweb wrote on Oct 25, 2008 11:46 AM:Keep the Peppertree! It has long been a part of Vista and needs to be updated but it should remain. Baskin-Robbins used to be in town but it was taken out quite awhile back and we miss that too.
Of anything I would like to see change in Vista, it is the upgrade/repair of roads. I've been here for 28 years and traveled all over. We have the worst roads ever and it would be best to spend some money on those and then get to buying land for redevelopment.
Preserve the past and then head into a wonderful future!

Joe wrote on Oct 25, 2008 8:50 PM:WE know that Rawlings wants to eliminate Mercantile so he can have bigger lots to entice big-box stores and put mom-and-pop operations that have been Vista's backbone for decades out of business. Then he'll move on and wreak havoc elsewhere and ruin more lives.

Schools Hurt wrote on Oct 26, 2008 7:08 AM:Don't believe that the city will sell back the land. Look at San Marcos, they own a third of the town's land. Their school district is always in the red, forcing expensive bond payments on private property owners. It's the charter way to go.