• Planning Commission Meeting December 2017

There were two items that drew some attention, though any potential impact wouldn't be felt for many years to come.

But let's start with public comments on non agenda items.

• Kenny Mayes was talking about bad smells all over town. He smelled them on Mission Trail, over by Barons and Stater Bros. He said the smells were all over the west side of the freeway.  

I travel all over town too, but haven't had any encounters with the effluvia he was describing. He attributes it to EVMWD venting out the sewers. Could be, but let's do the math here anyway. 

He detects foul odors everywhere he goes... what's the common denominator? Or in the parlance of tweens... could it be a simple case of he who smelt it, dealt it.

• Kathleen Hamblin asked the planning commission to start live streaming the meetings. 

I fully agree that all city meetings should be live streamed and then archived so that they can be viewed for years into the future (I've been asking for such since 2013). 

Unless YouTube changes its policies, such a thing costs nothing more than the purchase of the equipment, and the labor to run the operation. You don't have to start off with major league level cameras at first. Get the starter package, and then look to upgrade 2 to 5 years later, after it's become second nature.

Where I differ with the speaker is with her other comments that suggest some type of concerted effort to keep the people of Wildomar from having a voice.

•  I feel the residents are out of the loop and denied the opportunity to be included without live streaming. It's a disservice by the city not to make transparency a priority.

•  One of the council members suggested that we go on a blog to watch it; someone who films the meetings here, and I think that's unacceptable, we should be able to have live streaming like everybody else.

—Kathleen Hamblin, Public Comments 12-6-2017

Sorry to burst your bubble Kathleen, but it takes a paranoid fantasy that rivals The Matrix meets Shutter Island to conclude that the Wildomar city council is trying to maintain an ignorance among the local masses. It's painfully obvious that you've never had a single conversation with any of them.

As to the second point, I'm calling Fake News here and now. 

What's with these people that make outrageous claims about people, then don't have the stones to say their names? 

However, if you're willing to name the council member you alluded to, I'd be happy to retract my exclamation of fake news on your claim.

One other note. Bringing this important issue to the planning commission is akin to telling the valet parking attendant that you'd like your steak medium rare. Wrong place, wrong time.
3.1 Extension of Time (Nyiri Way)
I really didn't expect this to get too much attention. It's another of those extension of time requests for a project that was approved before we were a city, but got tabled by the recession.

It is looking to make 7 half acre parcels from an existing 3.75 acre lot. 

Off Grand, about half a mile south of Corydon.

A couple of Nyiri Way residents spoke in opposition to this project.

I thought that's what the Wildomar is Rural crowd wants... large lots.  

They were worried about being flooded out once the homes were built. It sounds interesting on paper, but when you look at the area in question, it starts to tilt to the preposterous when scrutinized.

I used to get flowers from the guy there... best place in town for day old flowers. Funny thing about it, this flower stand was going to be my first "better know a local business" blog back in 2013... but the proprietor politely declined. He seemed to be weary of drawing attention from the city (though he always had signs out on Grand). Link to blog.

Right now it's a dirt road, once the new half acre homes are constructed, they would be coming with a paved road and all the modern drainage bells and whistles that come with a 21st century home in California.

There was also worry that the homes would be on a septic system, but that was proven erroneous when the applicant said the homes would be connected to the sewer system.

Included is the 8 minute video of the item... you know, since this is currently the only source of such. ☺

3.2 Wildomar Trails Residential Project
This was listed as a "Study Session" where the applicant would talk about his proposed project, and then get feedback from the public and the commission.

This project first came to my attention back in August of 2014 when it sought a General Plan Amendment at the planning commission meeting. Technically it wasn't an actual request for a GPA, just an inquiry about a potential GPA... which is where we are now. It called for 48 homes on 15 acres off the southeast end of Baxter Road. 

You can see two roundabouts (traffic circles) in this graphic.
One on Baxter and another on Susan.
Just a concept at this point, not a tract map.

Probably because it was just a study session, but the project didn't have any set parameters. Sometimes it was 15 acres and 48 houses, then I could have sworn it jumped to 55 acres and 100 units.

Public Comments
Surprisingly there was just one, Joseph Morabito (me). Though there are many positive things that could come from this project, I'm always looking for consistency in government. (Don't laugh... well, go ahead and laugh a little.)

Unless my memory is shot, I could have sworn that the city council drew a distinction between zoning changes and general plan amendments when the Camelia project came before them last Summer... especially when it came to keeping Wildomar "rural".

(link to blog about the Camelia project)

I suggested that "it sure would seem hypocritical to think this [project] would get the green light... considering the position of the city council on that other project." 

I loved adding a quote that I'd managed to dig up from the past on this project.

You know you're in trouble when Council Member Tim Walker says, "Miss Miller was right" and Mayor Ben Benoit says, "I'm with Miss Miller here." Referring back to her public comments on the project and the area in general.
 

—From Wildomar Rap, January 2015

The commission gave guarded advice to the applicant that he consider keeping the project in the low density range if he wants a winnable battle on this.

As previously stated, this is miles off in the future. It's basically a nice looking project (though better suited for a less rural area of town). I'm just curious how this will play out at the next level. 

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Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle.
– Abraham Lincoln 

Wildomar Rap is hustle.

• City Council Meeting January 14, 2015 Recap

Let's go down the agenda.

First up was Wildomar City Attorney Thomas Jex reporting on a new lawsuit against the city and Cornerstone Church.

A group calling themselves "Cornerstone Concerned Area Residents" which if it were a more honest name would be something like "Area Residents That Hate Everything About Cornerstone Church" but what's in a name... right?

The reportable action on that topic was that the City Council unanimously voted to defend the lawsuit. This was another Ray Johnson special, but this time the group is headed by a guy named Jim Filanc.

Interesting that the last time Cornerstone had a proposed project in front of the council, this guy had said, "We want the city to have all the facts on what the impact will be on traffic on Monte Vista," he said. "We don't want to stop them from developing. We just want to make sure they pay their fair share and that it's a condition of the project."

Click here for the full article in the UT.

Well, I guess times have changed since there is a comprehensive EIR and they [Cornerstone] are more than paying "their fair share" for this project.

Presentations

• Ethan Edwards received recognition for his Eagle Scout project. 

Eagle Scout Ethan Edwards with Mayor Ben Benoit.

• We met the outgoing Fire Chief Steve Beech's replacement Joel Vela and Division Chief Geoff Pemberton.

Public Comments
There were seven public speakers tonight. Of note were:

• Kenny Mayes speaking about the need for a Food Truck ordinance and wondering when we will be getting the promised Parks Commission. 
• Miss Miller wanted the council to set aside other work and put their efforts on stopping Chemtrails and Global Warming. 
• Bill Keane (sp?) wanting a stop sign on Wesley at Union to slow down the speeders.
• Kristan Lloyd spoke about the historic significance of The Brown House and wanted it known as Wildomar Heritage Museum from here on out. She also took issue with the word, dilapidated, that the city has used in connection to the Wildomar Heritage Museum.

Just to be fair, the word may not be along the lines of "Cozy" or "Quaint" or "Historic" but a person would be hard pressed to find a more apt word for the current condition of the Wildomar Historic Museum than Dilapidated.

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• Matt Patrick was speaking about speed issues on Via Sarah.
• Judy Gugliemana represented the Wildomar Chamber and some of their coming events.
• Kathy Bundy spoke about a planned Volkswalk on June 6th which is National Trails Day.

2.1 and 2.2 were continued to the February meeting.

3.1 Baxter/Susan GPIP

This was covered in Wildomar Rap last year when it was in front of the planning commission. 

Click here for that blog.

This was one of those, "yes you can ask permission to ask permission" moments again. If I were the developer/landowner I'd seriously think about scrubbing this plan the way they envision it. 

You know you're in trouble when Council Member Tim Walker says, "Miss Miller was right" and Mayor Ben Benoit says, "I'm with Miss Miller here." Referring back to her public comments on the project and the area in general.

My favorite part of her comment was when she blamed all the concrete in the area for a bee sting she recently got in the jugular vein which now requires her to sleep with gloves for the next two weeks. She also saw some lion foot prints near Clinton Keith... then she slammed her papers against the podium and stormed out.

This passed 3-0 with Bob Cashman recusing himself since he lives near the project.

3.2 Gracepoint Church Public Use Permit Extension

They need a two year extension to complete their project due to funding and illness that hit the project manager. It passed 4-0.

3.3 Professional Services Agreement

Dan York was speaking about the Parks Masterplan and Traffic Signals in relation to DIF fees and TUMF fees. It was more sausage making and after my eyes finished glazing over I heard the vote go 4-0 to approve. 

City Manager Report

Gary Nordquist mentioned the coming Walmart public hearing on January 21, 2015 at 6:30pm. A scoping meeting for the Grove Park project this coming Monday at 6:00pm.  

He also gave the final numbers for the Green Waste Cleanup Event. The Marna O'Brien location had 132 signers and went through 16 bins and collected 30 tons at a cost of about $2300 paid to CR&R. On the other side of the freeway, at the La Estrella area, there were 78 signers (no bin count) but the services were donated by Waste Management.

He mentioned how the new Subway on Bundy Canyon is progressing.

City Clerk Debbie Lee thanked the City Staff, the City Council and her "Wildomar Family" for the condolences she received after her mother passed. 

Future Agenda Items

Bridgette Moore wants construction project signs to be addressed. (Example: A sign at the new Subway construction telling passersby what the project is, and projected finish dates).

Bob Cashman wanted Wildomar's historic structures designated or recognized. He's counted 14 such structures. 

Tim Walker wanted to get school test scores for Wildomar specific schools, away from LEUSD.

Ben Benoit Wants an option for various neighborhoods to be able to avoid the Windsong Valley slurry boondoggle when their neighborhoods are scheduled to be re-slurried, by paying additional monies through their HOAs if desired.

Marsha Swanson wasn't at tonight's meeting.

♥

Mayor Ben Benoit adjourned the meeting in honor of Debbie Lee's mother.

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We are men of action. Lies do not become us. 
- Farm Boy Wesley AKA The Dread Pirate Roberts

Wildomar Rap has been accused of not including "vital info" in blogs. I can handle being called a city insider/suck up, but shake yourself. This blog always has the vital info.

• Planning Commission Meeting Aug. 20, 2014

I've been going to city meetings for the past year, and I think I haven't missed a single planning commission meeting in that time... though there have been a couple of regularly scheduled meetings that have been cancelled, including next month's.

Here's what I've taken away from that experience.

I am so glad that I'm not a landowner in this town.

Let's take this little, odd shaped, piece of land where Corydon meets Mission Trail for example. There used to be a rock yard there, I bought a bunch of stepping stones there in the past, but it's been gone for what seems like the better part of three years now.

Plot of land in question.

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From what the developer/owner said —he first wanted to come in with some high density housing, but was told that most likely wouldn't fly here. Funny thing about that, I remember a former Planning Commissioner that said he understood the need for high density, but didn't like that it was all being put into one area of town (presumably the area near Kaiser). Well, this area is at the other end of town and would have made a lot of sense, but the developer opted to heed the planning department and went into another direction.

It's currently zoned CR (commercial retail), and he wanted the zoning changed to add some light industrial. Let's all remember that this part of the process is actually before the proverbial first step. It's NOT a GPA (it's a GPAIP - General Plan Amendment Initiation Proposal (pre-application review). A step that will soon be relegated to the history books, but is still needed today.

The developer came in with retail in the front portion and light industrial in the back. Most of the commission was holding out for only retail on the entire property. If you are familiar with the retail area north of the Baxter off ramp and east of the 15, you may agree with me that having a retail business that is tucked away, out of plain sight for people driving by, can be a death knell.

However, I did enjoy the optimism of long time Wildomar resident, from the farm, George Taylor on the topic. He reminded us how Temecula did not allow Walmart to build on a certain plot of ground years ago... and how later that land was developed into what is now The Promenade.

"You don't know what might happen here, in the future, with commercial real estate"

—George Taylor—

He can't really be comparing the two... is he?

I understand that people like to exaggerate to make a point, but please there should be limits. If you want to say, "I'm hungry enough to eat a horse" we understand that bit of hyperbole. There is no need to accelerate it up to, "I'm hungry enough to eat the entire Budweiser team of Clydesdales."

There is no way to compare a vast open area, that later became a regional mall, to a relatively small piece of land that is simply going nowhere. If we wait, as was suggested, and skip over the current owner's plans, it will not become The Wildomar Promenade... at least I don't think it will be.

The developer was speaking of possibly having automotive related retail in the front of the property. Things like custom tires or car stereos. Items that come with high prices, hence are good sales tax generators. Certainly as good as the "dress shop" I heard tossed out as an alternative.

The thing that got to me, and Commissioner Bobby Swann touched on it a bit, is the reverence that seems to be paid to a document that was put together before we were a city; by only a handful of locals.  I hear it took almost three years, and I bet it was a ton of work, but it was put together in another time —before our economy went  >>poof<< . Sorry, but there is no document that is above being revised as time marches on.

Even our own US Constitution has been revised dozens of times. If that hallowed document can be amended, so can our General Plan.

Still, that isn't the best part. Am I the only one listening at these meetings?

This General Plan Amendment Initiation Proposal (pre-application review) request on the part of the applicant will NOT be an approval of anything. It simply allows him to start the process, and if his plans don't fit within the desires of Wildomar, he'll be told NO —then.

Once our official General Plan kicks in, which is sooner than later, this 'pre' first step will be eliminated in the GPA process. This part of the process is what is called a formality. Meaning: rubber stamp it, and let him be told 'NO' later if his ideas don't work in our city.

In this cartoon, Peach is playing the part of Wildomar and Mario is the developer.

Asking the applicant about the specifics at this point is like asking your spouse if he/she wants sour cream and chives on their baked potato... six months from now. Let's deal with today first.

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There was also another GPAIP by someone wanting to build 48 homes on 15 acres off of Baxter.

Click to see the full info at the city's website.

I'm not sure if that's good fit or not, but still what was all the wrangling about at this juncture? This was another one of those formalities that should have been kicked upstairs to the city council to deal with. This was not the time to ask the applicant anything. When at a restaurant we don't give our food order to the hostess. Time and place my friends.

Lastly, there seems to be some romantic notion among many that we are "rural" and they want only to see The Ponderosa on one side of the street, South Fork on the other.

Pa better keep this a secret, Hoss and Little Joe ain't gonna like it one bit.

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Sorry, but in the words of SE Hinton, that was then, this is now.

Take a realistic view of our city —Google Maps is great for that— and you'll see that it is not some rural place with swaths of pristine open land. Click the link and you'll get an aerial view of our city. It's already been built and we can only be considered "rural" when compared to metropolitan areas like LA, or other major media markets.

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Wildomar Rap has never attempted to eat a horse, much less a Clydesdale, though I hear they are rather tasty.