Von Haden Is Back and Suing Vista : Government: Gadfly seeks to block transfer of housing densities.

Vista city officials thought they had rid themselves of Lloyd Von Haden.

But he’s back.

Four months ago, the state Supreme Court swept away five years of legal roadblocks to Vista’s redevelopment plan brought on by Von Haden.

On Wednesday, Von Haden once again took the city of Vista to court, this time asking the Superior Court to block what he said is a violation by the city of its general plan by illegally transferring housing densities from one part of the city to another.

“There is nothing in the ordinance that says they can do that,” Von Haden, a former city councilman, said Thursday. “In fact, it says the opposite: that, if there is any increase in density in any part of the city at all, there must be a vote of the people.”

Vista officials, however, say they’re tired of what they see as more Von Haden shenanigans.

“Here we go again,” Mayor Gloria McClellan said. “Let’s get real. He’s a gadfly who has to get himself into everything. He always has to go to court with everything.”

McClellan said the city has approved a density increase for the 71-unit La Provence development for senior citizens in the northeast area of the city. In return, McClellan said, the density in the Mar Vista area was decreased.

The city’s attorneys looked at the density transfer before the council approved it Aug. 25 and determined that it does abide by the 1987 general plan, McClellan said.

To send the issue to a special election would cost the city $90,000, she said.

The lawsuit that pitted Von Haden against Vista concluded four months ago and cost the city $113,400 in legal fees, McClellan said. It also increased the costs of several housing projects by $5 million to $8 million, she said.

In the new lawsuit, Von Haden said, it’s not the senior housing project that he opposes, it’s the way the city is handling it.

“They’re increasing the density without a vote of the people,” Von Haden said. “I just don’t want them to get away with it.”

A hearing is scheduled Dec. 15 in Vista Superior Court, and city attorneys are reviewing the case.