The Chula Vista City Council Tuesday afternoon voted to change the land use zoning for portions of the Otay Ranch Freeway Commercial Plan to a mixed use plan that will include residential properties and a hotel.
The vote was 3 to 1 in favor of the land use change with Councilwoman Pat Aguilar voting against the plan.
Councilman Steve Miesen recused himself because of potential conflicts of interests.
With the approval, Baldwin & Sons, which owns the land just north of the Otay Ranch Town Center, gets to change the land use from freeway commercial to mixed use to include an additional 600 residential properties and a hotel on the east side, which would be the first hotel in the area.
Mayor Mary Casillas Salas supported the change saying a hotel could potentially add more businesses in the city.
“We have a tremendous opportunity to use that hotel to attract more businesses here, so people could actually see Chula Vista and make their assessment of our community and maybe decide to bring their businesses here,” Casillas Salas said.
Casillas Salas also said that she was “comfortable” with the land use change.
Aguilar said the issue was one of the hardest issues she has ever had to vote on while on the council.
She also said over the past few days she was going back on forth with how she would vote.
In the end, she said she voted against it because she thinks the issue is a “squandered opportunity” to create a regional draw in Chula Vista with all different kinds of retail.
“I just think it’s premature to give up on that vision (of a regional commercial plan),” Aguilar said.
“I would rather hang on to the retail designation for another five years and give us a little more time. We are just coming out of a really bad economy.”
Mark Liuag, who is the planning commissioner representative on the Growth Management Oversight Committee for the city of Chula Vista, said the city is missing out on the financial impact on the commercial opportunities.
“I think they are giving up on a regional shopping center, which brings in a lot more money (than a hotel),” he said.
“And I believe that they are being hoodwinked to believe that the only way they can get a hotel is to give away future revenues.”
Liuag said hotels will eventually come and that there are other landowners who have entitlements to building hotels such as the Millenia Project and the Design District. He said the Baldwin & Sons project isn’t’ the only opportunity to bring a hotel to east Chula Vista.
Eastlake resident Ernest Jackson said the City Council had their minds made up with how they were going to vote before they even listened to public comment.
Jackson said a hotel isn’t a top priority of the east side.
“It could use one but we’re not in desperate need of one,” Jackson said about the need of a hotel on the east side.
He said once the potential four-year university gets built, then maybe there will be a greater need for a hotel.
Jackson said developers don’t have a clue how the city operates.
From what I’ve seen since I’ve been here, the developer comes in, has a great, grand plan, they make it, do their things and they are out of here,” he said. They don’t even live in the community? So do they have a direct interest?
They don’t live here.”
