The Mission Viejo Planning Commission rejected a zoning change that would pave the way for a highly contested development in Mission Viejo’s downtown area and potentially allow for more such developments that could change the town’s skyline. 

The Garden Plaza Project, proposed to stand just north of city hall, would replace an aging commercial center in the city’s downtown area. The plans for the development feature 234 apartment units built above a Whole Foods store. 

An OC Superior Court Judge determined that Mission Viejo City Council members didn’t violate transparency law when they negotiated Stein Mart redevelopment plans behind closed doors.

OC Superior Court Judge James Crandall’s ruling denied a lawsuit against the Mission Viejo City Council Jan. 13 after a property owner challenged city hall secrecy surrounding a land deal purchase.

It comes 11 months after Mission Viejo city officials began closed-session negotiations to purchase a Stein Mart building in the city’s downtown shopping center. 

It looks like residents across Orange County will be paying $50 more a year for their electricity bills after board members of the county’s first community choice energy program finally picked preliminary rates.

Despite multiple studies over the past three years pledging the new utility would be able to offer power at a premium price, the agency barely broke even with Edison’s offered rates for some of its new customers. 

The Orange County Power Authority launched near the end of 2020, and spent the last year getting ready to launch a competitor to Southern California Edison with plans for cleaner power and more local control. 

Mission Viejo City Council members are looking to redevelop another piece of land in the city, this time at Oso Creek Golf Course.

Their last redevelopment efforts at the Stein Mart property were met with controversy when officials issued $19 million in revenue bonds earlier this year. 

Mission Viejo is moving ahead on a controversial real estate project in the city, using millions in taxpayer dollars for a project plagued with transparency concerns. 

Since 2016, the city council has been trying to complete their new core vision plan for the city, with a new focus on the Oso Creek trails and revitalizing the shopping center across the street from city hall. 

In February, the council started negotiations with the Kinstler Family Trust to purchase the vacant Stein Mart building in that shopping center,  

Fully vaccinated people can now ditch their masks at work in Orange County and throughout the Golden State following updates to jobsite pandemic policies by the state’s workplace regulatory board. 

Unvaccinated workers will have to wear masks and employers must verify who’s vaccinated through a self-attestation process.

A year ago, Orange County officials were worried they might have to slash services and lay off staff to deal with an economic slowdown from the pandemic.

Those fears didn’t come to fruition.

In fact, the county is now eyeing a massive influx of cash – buoyed by skyrocketing housing prices and hundreds of millions in federal relief money.

City Council members in Aliso Viejo are grappling with how long elected representatives should be able to serve and how best to govern their city.

A November 2022 ballot measure could change just how many consecutive terms future council members can serve.

Orange County could begin reopening more businesses sooner if officials can bolster coronavirus vaccinations to California’s hardest hit communities, following abrupt changes to the state’s reopening guidelines. 

This week, Orange County health officials acknowledged the county’s coronavirus death chart – which shows date of death – is missing some deaths in recent days because of an average week-long lag in reporting, creating an impression of a major drop that may not be accurate.

The county Health Care Agency reports the deaths differently than the state Department of Public Health by using dates the deaths occur, while the state tallies them on the days the deaths are reported. 

It’s been over a month since most locals have been instructed to work from home. If you’re a part of the restaurant industry, however, food and beverage are considered an essential service.

Due to the closure of all dining rooms, thousands of service staff have been forced to file for unemployment; if we factor in the rest of California, that count is above a million. Those that are still on the clock are utilizing gloves, masks, disinfectant, hand sanitizer, and other precautions to prevent catching and spreading COVID-19.

While many establishments have temporarily closed their doors, others have chosen different paths.

A host of high-profile congressional seats in Orange County are up for grabs in the upcoming March primary, along with two key local races for county supervisor and a host of other local offices.

This week, voters get to see the official run down of faces vying for those seats as the filing deadline for candidates running for public office is on Friday.

Orange County’s top elected officials are warning the lack of affordable housing threatens the quality of life and upward mobility of residents, and puts the county’s economic future at risk.

“Orange County is experiencing a substantial shortage of housing, which is creating a significant negative impact on household budgets and the quality of life of its residents, as well as diminishing our county's workforce,” states the county’s new Declaration on Housing, which was adopted March 13 by the Board of Supervisors.

A broad-based campaign was launched Wednesday to bring together Orange County’s leaders in business, philanthropy, faith, and government around ending homelessness, including providing housing with support services for homeless people who have been on the streets for years.

The effort, led by Orange County United Way, piggybacks on a study it commissioned from UC Irvine that found it costs the public less to house long-term homeless people with wraparound health services than keep them on the streets where they often rotate in and out of expensive stays at emergency rooms and jails.

The proposed El Toro 100-Acre Parcel Development Plan, along with the Final Program Environmental Impact Report (FPEIR), will be presented to the Orange County Board of Supervisors on Nov. 14 for final approval. On Nov. 3, the County issued a Notice of Availability for the FPEIR, which addresses potential environment impacts and recommends the environmentally superior alternative – the Reduced Intensity and Reduced Density Alternative – as the preferred project.