• More Legal Wrangling, City On Sidelines This Time

"Wildomar Project Opponents Must Abide by Their Agreement and Cease Litigation Threats," Developer Sunbelt Communities Says in Lawsuit.

Some people, when they're no longer punching a clock, decide to pick up one hobby or another.

Jigsaw puzzles, crocheting, book clubs, traveling, mentoring, suing their local municipalities —or local developers— costing the residents of their towns many thousands of dollars in legal fees and staff costs, or future homeowners many thousands of dollars in needless costs hidden in the price.

Wildomar has several such accomplished geriatric litigants. They often make up cutesy names to take the brunt of the flak. Names like Alliance for Intelligent Planning (AIP pronounced APE) or Citizens for Quality Development.

Back in October it was reported that the city paid out $120,000 to the group that includes former Wildomar city council member Cheryl Ade, a person that still holds the sole distinction of being the only council member to be voted out of office in Wildomar. (Link to the blog about it) 

That group has also had Gary Andre in it (he may still be in it, but it's hard to keep track of shadowy circles like that.) Suffice to say, if you'd like to play connect the dots I'll be happy to toss some dots out there for you.

• Gary Andre runs for city council in 2014 and claims to be indigent so as to avoid the filing fees, which he later pays anyway the next week.
• Gary Andre is a member of AIP as described by the Press Enterprise "Andre’s group Alliance for Intelligent Planning".
• Alliance for Intelligent Planning gets $120K payout in October 2015.
• Gary Andre, the man that filed as indigent the year before, shows up to a council meeting in a brand new, $27,000 Kia. Complete with a leather bra. (not him, the car)

Interesting dots, not sure if they connect or not, but I'll let the individual do their own sleuthing.

So why is this topical? Because he's part of another group... the one mentioned above: Citizens for Quality Development (better known as Crud).

That group has been trying to derail the 275-home Oak Creek Canyon residential housing project, which is just west of The Farm on Bundy Canyon Rd.

This project was the big news right before I started going to the city council meetings back in 2013. I didn't get to see a lot of the action as it unfolded. Yet, back in November of 2014, there was a settlement agreement between the developer and opponents of the approved 275-home Oak Creek Canyon residential housing project in Wildomar.

However, when you're dealing with Gary Andre things never go smoothly. There's always a hitch. If he's got your phone number he'll be calling you half a dozen times a day.

True to form, at the February 2015 planning commission meeting he showed up with another laundry list of demands (Click this link to the blog covering it).

Today Sunbelt Communities issued a press release. Here's an excerpt.

Sunbelt Communities said it had no choice but to ask the California Superior Court to set aside requests by a group calling itself Citizens for Quality Development for inordinate additional soil testing in and around the development site. Sunbelt has already accommodated numerous requests from the opponents for project changes, including a payment of $60,000 to their lawyers.

link to full press release.

“The motives behind the call for more unnecessary testing are obvious: additional legal fees for the opponents’ attorney, with no additional benefit for prospective homeowners of an already approved project,” said Larry Markham, a spokesperson for Sunbelt Communities. 

“This has become a meaningless exercise spurred on by opponents’ repeated threats of litigation, and we have no choice but to ask the Court to put an end to it,” Markham said.

It's good to see the developers finally standing up to theses mindless lawsuits. Let's hope that the rest of them take a cue here and stop looking to settle with any of them from now on.

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Recently I was referred to as a "sheeple" for "lumping together" all the various lawsuits that are going on in the city. Fine, though drawing that conclusion is akin to a child's crayola drawing being confused with the Mona Lisa.

I have no skin in the game when it comes to development in Wildomar. I have a house and if no more houses were built, it wouldn't affect me (isn't that part of the NIMBY mindset?) I'm not pro developer any more than I'm anti developer. I'm pro sanity, and that is a quality that seems lacking in the Lawsuit Lennys of Wildomar.

I don't come equipped with an agenda, and I think that confuses many people that know me. As long as you're a straight shooter, I can get along with you even if I don't agree with your views. For all that, if you are one of those that loves to repeatedly sue the city, then even if I happen to agree with some of your points I have minimal respect for you. 

It's a shame really, because the right to sue city hall is a terrific privilege that we all enjoy and should guard well. When the system is abused, it gets people looking to curb their own rights just to stem the parade of garbage that gets pushed onto them.

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Oh yeah, you completely disgraced yourself and almost destroyed an entire town!

― April Ludgate, Parks and Rec

Wildomar Rap tip of the day: Sit back and relax, the ride isn't half as bad as you're making it out to be.