VISTA — The city of Vista is moving forward with the purchase of a future park site on Matagual Drive after confirming via a land appraisal that the city had come away with a favorable deal, city leaders said Monday.
The sale of the land at 536 Matagual Dr. near Vale View, owned by the Shadle family, is expected to close on Aug. 30.
The site had long been eyed as a site for a controversial hotel development before being considered as a possible park site. In June, the Vista City Council approved the $2.1 million purchase of the land with the commitment to make it into a public park after negotiating down from the Shadle’s original $3.5 million asking price.
An appraisal finalized Monday calculated the as-is market value of the property at around $1.4 million and the hypothetical market value after a zoning change at $2.4 million. City council members said this reaffirms the price they agreed to back in June.
“Ultimately, I do believe that the price that we arrived at is a very fair price, given the two different evaluation methods that were used … it was good to arrive at a price between those two prices,” said Mayor John Franklin.
The city obtained the retroactive appraisal nearly two months following the purchase agreement after drawing criticism earlier this month from some residents who wondered why the city had not appraised the land first.
In response, and at the behest of Franklin, the city began looking into establishing an appraisal policy. However, officials found that the city actually had a policy on the books from 2003 requiring appraisals for land with a fair market value over $25,000, of which the city council and city attorney had been unaware at the time.
At their Monday meeting, City Council members reiterated that this was an oversight, and thanked the public for engaging in the process.
“I think all of us can admit we have blind spots, or we have different ways of going about a process, that we learn over time what our best practices are,” said Councilmember Katie Melendez. “I want to make sure we are following best practices as much as possible, and if there are opportunities for us to do something better, then being able to hear that feedback and hear that critique from the community, it only makes us better, and I really appreciate that.”
“I’m grateful that we did slow down the process and get the appraisal. Today, I’m still confident in the decision that we made,” said Councilmember Dan O’Donnell.
City leaders emphasized that obtaining this land for a park is a huge win for the community, especially due to the shortage of vacant land. Unlike most available sites on the outskirts of the city, the Matagual Drive property is centrally located and can serve more residents, Franklin said.
Going forward, council members committed to having more discussions about land acquisition policy and procedures, as well as engaging the community in what they want to see at the future park.
