• State of the City 2015

Tonight was the State of the City presentation by Mayor Ben Benoit.

It started around 5:30PM, though many people were already there by 5:15. There was food provided by Los Reyes Mexican Restaurant, pizza by Pie Nation and chicken skewers by Old Market Grill for those that attended.

Alfredo Garcia looks on as Lake Elsinore Mayor Pro-Tem Brian Tisdale (left) waits for an enchilada. 

Many local dignitaries were on hand. Including State Senator Jeff Stone, Assembly Woman Melissa Melendez, County Supervisor Kevin Jeffries, representatives from Lake Elsinore and Temecula, and a host of others.

Chief of Wildomar Police Leonard Hollingsworth, Electra Demos of The Assistance League,
Mayor Pro-Tem Bridgette Moore and another person from The Assistance League whose name I didn't get.

The presentation started with Boy Scout Troop 332 leading the group in the Pledge of Allegiance. Followed by the singing of the national anthem by City Clerk Debbie Lee.

Brandon Benline and Debbie Lee go over specifics of the opening ceremonies.

Mayor Ben Benoit spoke for a little less than half an hour about the current state of Wildomar.

A key thing to take away from it is that we're not in debt, something many other cities can't claim.

He highlighted many coming projects, including Mount San Jacinto College (currently battling predictable litigation).

He also reminded us about the recent veto by Governor Brown of SB 25 that would have stopped diverting nearly $2,000,000 a year away from the city. A fight that will continue until it's returned.

 Part of Wildomar's A-Team, from L-R; Gary Nordquist, Leonard Hollingsworth, Thomas Jex, Dan York, Debbie Lee,
 Bridgette Moore, Ben Benoit, Marsha Swanson, Janet Morales, and Tim Walker. 

City Council Members: Mayor Pro-Tem Bridgette Moor, Mayor Ben Benoit, Tim Walker and Marsha Swanson.

A suggestion for next time. Let's work in a ringmaster of sorts that will corral people into photo ops. Someone that will be able to get people lined up for photos. It would have been great to get more posed pictures with those that attended.

I was very surprised that Council Member Bob Cashman was a no show. Though he never comes to city events, outside of the Bell Ringing (he's usually the MC for that one), I thought this would be different.

Thing is, at a recent city council meeting he went out of his way to say that he was now retired, and that he'd be able to spend more time concentrating on Wildomar. I guess he's waiting for a special occasion or something.

Sort of like on a classic Simpson's where Bart got Marge some perfume for her birthday and he asked her why she didn't put any on. Her response was, "I'm waiting for a special occasion."

With Bart's retort being, "what's more of a special occasion than your birthday?" 

Bringing it back to Wildomar, what's more special than the State of the City address?

Temecula City Council Member Maryann Edwards happened to be sitting next to me during the Mayor's presentation and afterward quipped after seeing Bob Cashman's name on the screen, "I don't know Bob Cashman, I haven't seen him at any event."

I smiled and said, "Yeah, he doesn't bother coming to city events."

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Dead people receive more flowers than the living ones because regret is stronger than gratitude.  
― Anne Frank

Wildomar Rap missed out on Pie Nation's pizza, but was happy to have a plate of Los Reyes' food... and yes, the whole enchilada was great.

• Neighborhood Meeting Tentative Tract Map 33840

Tonight there was a neighborhood meeting for those that live near the proposed subdivision of 15 houses on 4.07-acre site that is sandwiched between the flood channel to the east, the backyards of homes on Darby to the west, Gruwell to the north and Central to the south.

There was a short power point presentation by planner Alfredo Garcia followed by many public comments. The top concerns revolved around a few themes. 

• Loss of existing access to backyards by homeowners on Darby.
• Loss of privacy due to two story homes looking into neighbor's yards.
• Flooding issues.
• Increased traffic on Darby.
• An existing ten foot easement for utilities granted the homeowners years ago.
• Sewer hookups. 

View from ground level of Tract Map 33840 looking south from near Gruwell.

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This is what it comes down to. Do the proposed 15 houses make sense on that tract or not? I say they don't —for many reasons, though I have to scratch my head at the comment by one of the neighbors, stating that the proposed fifteen 2,000sf to 3,000sf homes would somehow "stick out like a sore thumb". 

Calling a nice, new and modern neighborhood a "sore thumb" would be like calling the highrise, in the graphic below, a sore thumb. Sorry, but a "sore thumb" is something that subtracts from the whole. 

The 15 homes, though out of place IMO, would actually be the gem in an otherwise bent up crown. Such a development would help increase the local property values, not hurt them.

Can you imagine the view from the terrace? Not quite what Aladdin and Jazmin saw in that Disney cartoon.

Let's put our big boy pants on for a minute and call a spade a spade... the area in question is not the most desirable part of Wildomar. What is the developer thinking? Why force nice homes into an area that they don't fit into... both figuratively and literally? Who would plunk down market priced HOA homes in that location in the first place? Once built, who would line up to get a mortgage for such things? I'm thinking I might just rather live near a Sriracha sauce factory my own self... but that's just me. ☺

Oh, and the proposed perimeter block wall, that would be right on the public trail, would make a great canvass for graffiti artists.

Though I can understand why the landowner would like to collect as many dollars as he can from his personal patch of Wildomar, a development like this belongs in a different area, not shoehorned into such a mismatched area simply because he has a deed to the property. 

Rumors of a bridge being built over the concrete flood control ditch, to allow another point of entry to the proposed subdivision, traversing private land, were dispelled by Planning Director Matt Bassi.

There will be another Neighborhood Meeting on the topic in the near future, with answers to the questions and concerns that the speakers brought to the fore. If you want to be alerted to such things, you need to go over to the city's website and sign up.  

http://www.cityofwildomar.org/stay-connected.asp

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If you are a facebookie type, let me suggest that you like the Wildomar Rap page. That way you'll be the first one on your block to read the latest.

• BP vs. HDR (Planning Commision Meeting 12-18-13)

(Business Park vs. High Density Residential)

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Are you signed up for the city's emails? I am. Two weeks ago I got something that looked like this in regards a special Planning Commission meeting.

Below is an artist's rendering of it.

click for the link I was sent.

It was 717 pages long... so I emailed A-Gar and asked if this was a mistake. I must have hit the wrong "reply" button at yahoo mail, because I've yet to get a reply. I've since learned that there are server issues that the city is coping with. 

My Bad... I guess.

...and to be fair, he did start off with saying the 'agenda was attached'... but the included link was a major league curve ball, and I just watched it go by for a called third strike. My bad... I guess.

The real agenda was only six pages long.
Who knew?

Dear Santa, I've been marginally good this year, and all I'd like to have is clear, consistent communication when dealing with the city. Can you please straighten out their internet server issues? Thank you.

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Straight from the Planning Commission agenda

3.0 GENERAL BUSINESS
3.1 Strata/Prielipp GPA Initiation Request (Planning Application No. 13-0039):
The applicant (Strata Equity Group) is requesting a Planning Commission recommendation to the City Council in accordance with Section 17.08.040.B of the Zoning Ordinance to initiate a proposed general plan land use amendment on a 20.2-acre site from Business Park (BP) to High Density Residential (HDR) to accommodate a future 86-unit/104-bed Congregate Care Facility/Assisted Living Facility on 7.5 acres of the site, and a 143-unit townhome multi-family project on 12.7 acres of the site located at the northwest corner of Elizabeth Lane and Prielipp Road (APN: 380-250-023).

RECOMMENDATION:
The Planning Department recommends the Planning Commission recommend the City Council allow the initiation of a general plan amendment for Planning Application No. 13-0039 (Strata/Prielipp Project).

(emphasis is mine)

The vote was 3 to 1, with Commissioner Swann voting nay, to NOT recommend.
   Nothing like a good old fashioned double negative to cross a person up.  

My favorite quote from the applicant was:
"Taking care of the aged is a business."

This was his response to concerns that he wanted to put HDR (High Density Residential) where the zoning is for a business park. He does have a point... it is a business, and the estimate is for 100-110 permanent jobs once it's complete, with 300 construction related jobs for the 2 years it takes to build; does sound nice. Still, this is far worse than a MUPA where the maximum of 50% HDR was agreed upon.

Not only that, but what brainiac suggested putting 143 multi family, triplex and fourplexes, in the same complex as a retirement home? Seriously, talk about a match made in hades.

What I didn't understand was when the applicant said,

"We own this property, we bought it in October of 2012, this isn't just an option that we have..." 

Let me get this straight. You bought business park property, but you wanted to build HDR townhomes and assisted care facilities. Umm, Mr. Applicant sir... why didn't you buy land that was already zoned for such a project in the first place?

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There were two other items on the agenda. 

Items that I thought would've sailed through. 

2.1 Allowing a 5 plus acre parcel to be divided into ten 1/2 acre lots at 34951 Orange St. I can't imagine why there would be real opposition, but there was. Commissioner Devine recused himself from the discussion (I'm gathering he had some dealings with it) and the final vote was 3-0 to recommend to the council. But not before Gary Andre warned about impending flooding, and lost indian artifacts. (please refer back up to the rolling eye gif if you wonder what I think of it).

I know my name isn't Joe Hydrologist, but why would there be anymore flooding because of ten houses being built? Is someone suggesting they are all going to leave the hose running at once?

Oh, also gotta love hearing that The Alliance For Intelligent Planning had their cap gun attorney send another letter. Can there be a bigger misnomer for a cabal of dissidents, I mean "activists" out there??? Well, other than Ducks Unlimited suggesting they are for the protection of ducks that is?

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2.2 After much deliberation, or so it seemed, it was voted 4-0 to recommend to the council. In question were three modular trailers for Gracepoint Church, on Canyon Drive. I didn't see what the hang up here was either. It's good to be concerned about the aesthetics of the area, but perhaps those making the decisions could drive by the place next time. Come on Commish Devine... you didn't know the houses that abut the church property were already built? 

You can see rooftops and cars in the neighborhood west of Gracepoint Church.

 

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Oh, and as of today, there have been ZERO applications sent in for the fifth planning commissioner's spot. If you're interested in applying for the post... contact the city about it.

Click here for an application.