Vista Gives Green Light to Auto Mall Plan

Over the objections of neighbors who fear the sights and sounds of it, plans for a 100-acre commercial project featuring an auto mall have been approved by the Vista City Council.

Groundbreaking at California 78 and Sycamore Avenue is expected this summer, with occupancy by mid-1991, city officials say.

The project, planned by the Carlsbad-based Newport National Corp., which did much of the commercial development at nearby Shadowridge, is expected to feature about 10 automobile dealerships and 55 acres of adjoining commercial businesses.

City Manager Morris Vance said the project is expected to generate nearly $30 million in sales tax to the city over the first 15 years, becoming Vista’s most significant single source of municipal revenue.

The City Council approved the project, 4 to 0, Wednesday night. Councilman Gene Asmus abstained, saying the project is moving ahead too hastily.

The complex, known as North County Square, would sit on the northwestern corner of California 78 and Sycamore Avenue, and would include property previously owned by National University.

Neighbors objected on several counts, and the City Council ordered conditions on the project that, it said, should alleviate those concerns.

The city, for instance, will insist on the use of individual pagers versus loudspeakers when persons are called off the sales lots and service areas to answer telephone calls. Vance said the city might allow the use of so-called “low-intensity” loudspeakers if the dealerships can demonstrate that the sounds don’t carry off the property.

The dealerships’ service bays will be within buildings whose doors face in toward one another so neighbors won’t have to look into the gaping openings of service areas, the council said.

The project will be separated from the neighboring residential area by a 6-foot-high block wall, extensive landscaping and property setbacks of up to 90 feet, the council ordered.

The city gave the developer permission to contain Buena Creek, which travels through part of the property, in a culvert to make part of the acreage more usable and to reduce the likelihood of flooding. In exchange, the developer already has been ordered by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the state Department of Fish and Game to make improvements to creek habitat downstream.

The city is also negotiating an agreement with the developer in which the city--through a rebate of sales tax revenue--would subsidize the cost of the land that is sold to the auto dealerships in order to entice them.