Residents Reject Rosarito as Separate City

Residents for the second time in six months appeared to have voted against a measure to make this oceanfront suburb of Tijuana a city unto itself.

With all but four regular precincts and four special mobile precincts counted Sunday, the yes votes were more than 1,600 short of what was needed for passage. The minimum required to pass the measure was 50% of the vote plus one, or 7,617 votes.

Despite fair weather Sunday, voting was relatively light throughout the day, and turnout was far short of predictions of 70%.

At stake was whether Rosarito, a jumbled mix of seaside tourist areas, impoverished neighborhoods and agricultural tracts 15 miles south of Tijuana proper, would break away from Tijuana to become the fifth city in the state of Baja California.

With a population of about 60,000, Rosarito contains about one-quarter of Tijuana’s land and roughly half its coastline, including many of its best beaches. Rosarito covers about 175 square miles. An estimated 10,000 Americans have retirement or vacation homes here, local officials said.

Tijuana city officials had opposed the cityhood move, contending that an independent Rosarito would not be able to generate enough revenue to support itself.

Rosarito’s first attempt at cityhood, March 8, was nullified as rain kept the voter turnout below the minimum needed to certify the measure.