1. Why should I care? Why should I resist the Monarch apartment development at the Scripps Mesa site?
- Overlarge apartment complex that blatantly violates the Community Plan
- Loss of community focal points (school and Farmers Market)
- Rushed planning, with community and charter school objections ignored and misrepresented by the School District and Monarch from the outset
- Uses school property to benefit private enterprise (Monarch) – not students, not the community
- Unethical use of taxpayer bond money. Instead of distributing bond money to help multiple charter schools, $60 MILLION spent to move A SINGLE school
- Apartment project opposed by ALL Scripps Ranch community groups and the vast majority of community members
2. What is the mission of VOSR? To ensure that legal procedures are followed and that every effort is made to gather and comply with community input in order to reach reasonable decisions about Scripps Ranch developments. The official purpose statement prepared in our 501(c)3 application is:
“Monitor, educate, promote, and enforce that public laws plans, and the intent thereunder, are fully and faithfully complied with during planning, zoning, and development activities to protect and promote proper governance, livability, and quality of life in Scripps Ranch and the immediate and greater San Diego region.”
3. Is VOSR a nonprofit? VOSR is pending approval as a 501c3 nonprofit organization.
4. Is my donation tax deductible? We have applied for tax-deductible nonprofit status, and have every reason to expect approval. When that happens, and probably retroactively, yes. The tax id is 84-4394773.
5. What does VOSR hope to accomplish? Our goal for the Scripps Mesa site is this: As specified in the Community Plan, we want Scripps Mesa to be a community focal point that complies with the Plan’s broad vision as well as its detailed building height and bulk requirements. To get there, the first step is to stop or dramatically change the current Monarch plan.
6. How can I contribute to VOSR? The easiest way is to make a donation on our website via PayPal.
7. Can I mail my donation in the US Postal system?
Yes. Checks made out to Voice of Scripps Ranch can be mailed to:
Voice of Scripps Ranch
10333 Avenida Magnifica
San Diego, CA 92131
8. Who runs VOSR? The VOSR directors are six long-term residents of Scripps Ranch. Most of us have lived in the area for 20 years or more, and have raised families here. Several of us have received recognition for previous community involvement. Two of us are locally-elected members of legislative community bodies: Miramar Ranch North Planning Committee, and Scripps Ranch Schools Committee. Four of us are women, and two are men. Our careers are diverse: teacher, scientist, homemaker, engineer, entrepreneur, and retired attorney. What unites us is that we want our community’s strong objections to the Monarch development to be respected, and we decided to get organized and act.
9. What has VOSR done so far? VOSR incorporated in 2020, enabling it to collect donations to pursue a legal challenge to the Monarch apartment complex planned for the Scripps Mesa site. But VOSR did a lot before that! VOSR formed in 2015 as a small group representing the wide resistance to the apartment plan. Over the next few years the group voiced the community’s concerns to school, city, and state officials; started publicizing the fight and building outreach mechanisms; and researched possible causes of legal action. In 2018, VOSR members began work with legal teams to define strong legal challenges. In 2019, VOSR actions were key in preventing Monarch from getting a “map waiver” from the city. VOSR is currently challenging the city’s ministerial approval of the project. Stay tuned, as 2020 promises to be an exciting year for VOSR’s work on behalf of Scripps Ranch!