• Wildomar Square Grand Opening

Though most of Wildomar Square opened back in October of 2017, the center itself waited until Spring of 2018 to hold its grand opening. The day was a bit chillier than we are accustomed to in SoCal, but it was a beautiful day just the same. 

The LED message board was switched on after weeks of it being in the 'off' position, in preparation for the big grand opening. 

The LED sign announcing the grand opening.

As seen from the northeast corner of Clinton Keith and Hidden Springs Road. The red arrow indicates the LED portion of the sign, and the blue arrow indicates the giant Robecks cup that was on display.

Wildomar Square's new LED sign as seen from Del Taco on the north side of Clinton Keith.

In addition to the businesses giving out free samples, there was a ceremony hosted by site developer David Horenstein of DH Holdings. The entire city council was in attendance as were many city staffers, including the city manager (Gary Nordquist) and the assistant city manager (Dan York).

David Horenstein spoke for about 20 minutes, mixing self deprecating humor with enthusiasm for the city of Wildomar, and the prospects of that Wildomar Square brings to the area. His quotes are in the red boxes below.

• Good afternoon everyone that has joined us for the celebration. Today actually signifies a pivotal milestone in the landscape of Wildomar; the grand opening of Wildomar Square.

• Let me give you a brief history [of businesses in Wildomar] for the last twenty years and how we arrived here today. I said "twenty years", well, we started the journey in 1999. That's when we only had a USA gas station on the other side of the freeway, and a couple of older [shopping] centers on Palomar if you remember.  

He then went through the various developments that have come to Wildomar over the years. 

He talked about the Rancon project that brought us the Albertson's center (1999). The Stater Bros center was followed by the one at Clinton Keith and Palomar where Rite Aid is. The Shops at Clinton Keith where 7-11 is came in just before cityhood in 2006-07.

DH Holdings bought the property where Wildomar Square is in July of 2007, and then he kiddingly said, "It was a perfect time to lease and start a project in '08... no?" Alluding to the major economic downturn/housing bubble that really socked it to our region.

• We went into a depression and so we had to continue to look for people who were willing to move forward with the project. So the signs kept changing "coming soon (2008)" to "coming soon (2010)" to "coming soon" until we got the feeling that no one was lending in America. —You guys remember this time (said wryly, to which the crowd chuckled).

• We're grateful, we're humble we're joyous about being here to unveil Wildomar's hottest new —100% Amazon proof, and 100% leased— shopping center known as Wildomar Square. 

• Wildomar Square can be that open door that changes the shape and future of retail, and commercial property and civic center community in Wildomar we want to be more than just a shopping experience, we want to be a square to be truly a place where positive memories are made and everyone in the community, beyond Wildomar boundaries, can come and enjoy.

One bit of fun was when David Horenstein mentioned how Wildomar came about. The crowd enjoyed the comment, but weren't sure if it was well played humor, or just a slight mix up. ☺
• It was a small town and not many people know William, Donavon and Margaret in the late '80s came up with this town... late 1800s.

He then went through and highlighted all 24 tenants of the square. 

He started with Taco Bell, then went clockwise until he finished up with Country Kitchen. The other busineses were Jersey Mike's, Super Cuts, Robeks Juices, Sleep Squad, Dunkin Donuts/Baskin Robbins, Pad Thai, Pacific Marine Credit Union, Vie Nails, Petrichor Float, Califorever Salon, Mountain View Tires, Bear Creak Eye Care, Just Yoga, Massage Poise, Sandi Beach Tanning, Transamerica, The Habit, Town Center Cleaners, Sushi Ka, Healthy But Good, Angelo's Brick Oven Pizzaria.

I was excited to hear about the coming Thai Restaurant (which will be next to DD/BR). Can't wait to give them a taste. No word on how soon they'll be up and running. 

Wildomar is now solidly represented when it comes to places where you can get new tires and basic services for your automobiles.

The other new establishments I hadn't heard about before include Pacific Marine Credit Union, Sandi Beach Tanning, and Sleep Squad.

Mayor Ben Benoit remarked how much he liked Pacific Marine's new vault... which can be seen just beyond their E-Z Up with the bright yellow locking mechanism.

Next up was Mayor Ben Benoit:

"First off, I'm probably going to do this three or four times during this speech, but Thank - You - David!

David, you believed in this center, you believed in this city over and over again you believed in all of us and we've always believed in you, and we're so happy to be here today because of all the hard work you've put into it. I know it's your team [that made it happen], but thank you David, thank you very much."

Mayor Ben Benoit, fresh from the Eggstravaganza event a couple of hours earlier in the day at Marna O'Brien Park, says a few words about Wildomar Square to the crowd.

David Horenstein looks on as City Manager Gary Nordquist says a few words.

Ribbon cutting with the Murrieta/Wildomar Chamber of Commerce.

The equine squad was on hand.

Though their building isn't ready for business yet, Just Yoga was on hand to greet the community.

Purple was the color at Sushi Ka, as they gave out free tastes of their food.

No, there wasn't a time machine back to the Roaring '20s, the Wildomar Queens, along with city councilmember Bridgette Moore had been at the Operation Prom Girl over at the Elks Lodge before heading over to Wildomar Square. From left to right is Taylor, Daisy, Bridgette Moore and DD/BR owner Mike Stout.

•                •                •

Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.
– Dale Carneghie

Wildomar Rap is fairly certain that the long history of The Making of Wildomar Square is an example of Mr. Carneghie's point.

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• Planning Commission Meeting March 2018

Only one newsworthy item on the agenda. A GPIP (General Plan Initiation Proposal) that was seeking to change a 3.82 plot of Commercial Retail (CR) land into Highest Density Residential (HHDR). 

As with other GPIPs, this was just a chance for the developer to get a sense of what the Planning Commissioners thought. There were no votes cast in regards this project. Just as there won't be any when this comes before the city council in April.

With that established, what is this proposal?

In short, 94 units of apartments, in four story buildings on 3.82 acres of land behind the shopping center called The Shops at Clinton Keith. The ingress/egress would be from Hidden Springs Road.

Area map of proposed apartment project.

There was a presentation by the planning department, and another by the developer, David Horenstein, followed by public comments, then final comments from the commissioners.

Planning Director Matt Bassi listed several things to consider regarding this proposed project.

► Loss of potential land use opportunities and sales tax revenues.
► Loss of potential jobs for Wildomar residents.
► Land use compatibility with high density apartments adjacent single family residential zoned properties and residences.
► Development of 94 more apartment units that would be added to the 1,245 apartment/condo units approved but not yet constructed.
► Potential traffic impacts.

There were three public comments.

•  Ken Mayes hated it. 
•  Kathleen Hamblin was nearly coming apart at the seams as she hammered home her points, at times approaching Miss Miller level of outrage... sans the singing of course.

"This is clearly another horrible, scaled down Camelia Townhouse Project. We are a small, semi-rural city and it needs to be preserved, and to stay that way." 
Points to her for adjusting the description of Wildomar to "semi-rural"
This is where she goes off the rails.

"Why do you people insist on proposing highest and high density residential developments here? The residents have expressed their views time and time again about the negative effects of apartments, condos, and townhouses in Wildomar. These kinds of development proposals are outrageously out of proportion and do not belong in Wildomar. I am opposed to any zone changes, or amendments to the general plan that will destroy our rural community and lifestyle."

I'm guessing that you have Ken proofread your comments before heading to the podium, and unless he's trying to have fun at your expense, wouldn't it be considered a kindness to help you edit out the false, or misleading, portions?

Who the hell is "you people"?

If you don't understand the basics of the process, why bother commenting on it? 

Let's go over it again.

It's the landowner or developer that comes to the city, telling them what they'd like to build on their land. Not the other way around. The city didn't solicit an untenable project like these apartments. 

I actually agree with many of your contentions above, but you've obviously been taught well by Professor Mayes on how to weave a couple of good points into a morass of oddball points, losing any chance at convincing the very people you're talking to.  

Then the kicker, "I am opposed to any zone changes, or amendments to the general plan that will destroy our rural community and lifestyle."

It's a lead pipe cinch that 100% of the people on the city staff, the electeds (council members) and the appointeds (commissioners) agree completely with that statement. 

I can only think of a handful of people that would like to "destroy our rural community and lifestyle" and they usually sit in the same part of the audience that you do. Jus' sayin'.

The triumphant return of Cantankerotti Corner. Starring Wildomar's favorite cranks.

•  Joseph Morabito suggested that this project is most likely a real life example of The Art of the Deal. Where you come in with something that will trigger people into panicking, like the person mentioned above, and then come back with a pared down version of the project. Making it seem like they're very willing to negotiate as they appear to take the concerns of everyone to heart.

▲         ▼         ▲

The developer, David Horenstein, the man behind many commercial developments in town, including the new Wildomar Square, and The Shops at Clinton Keith, gave a brief presentation.

He seemed to speak more about other properties, than the one on the agenda. He talked about a how retail isn't what it once was with Amazon taking a big bite out of traditional brick and mortar stores.

He also talked about a future Civic Center, but since that's not part of this, I didn't understand how it helped this item.

With nearly a quarter of the land designated as "wetland", units would be mashed into 3 acres, including 139 parking spaces. Of which more than a third of that was suggested to be for a Park & Ride area. The parking is woefully under provided for. 

The name that he gave to the apartment complex is Solar Village, and touted it being "green"... though the rough drawings had no real recreation amenities, not even a pool or other things that I've seen in all the other apartment projects.

Horenstein brought in an odd term: Wilshire corridor. Commissioner Langworthy interrupted and asked to have it defined.

He basically threw the City Manager under the bus by saying, "I got that from Gary [Nordquist]." As he further said it refers to a district in Los Angeles. 

Trying to salvage the moment, Director Bassi jumped in saying that "we refer to Clinton Keith, that stretch, as our "Miracle Mile", how we treat it, and the quality we want to see."

Commissioner Comments

► Chair John Lloyd
"I've seen Mr. Horenstein's projects before, he does very good work. I'm not concerned about that at all. I believe he has a good vision for our community as far as retail locations and layouts and such. For this specific one, I have more concerns, because I don't see a need for additional apartments at this point."

► Commissioner Mason Ballard
"At this time I don't feel I know enough about it to stand one way or the other on it. I know that high density property always strikes a chord, and you're either on one side or the other with it. I've personally lived in the apartments right behind this building, when I first moved to Wildomar, and that was a very plesant place for me and my family. They're not all bad (apartments), but we want to make sure it's done right."

I always enjoy Commissioner Veronica Langworthy's take when it comes to apartments in town. This is at least the third time I've heard her invoke "Little House on the Prairie" and how the Olsen family had a store on the ground floor, and lived above it. 

Based on the orientation of that property, and it being well off the beaten path, I don't really envision too many successful mom and pop shops in that area.

► Commissioner Veronica Langworthy
"I would say that if you considered something like, first floor commercial, and second and maybe third floor, like townhouses above commercial. That might be a possibility. Something like Little House on the Prairie."

► Commissioner Kim Strong
(Addressing Chair Lloyd) "John, I agree with you 100%. I don't think the city needs more apartments [...] I'm also concerned about the financial impacts and the impacts that Mr. Bassi brought up [...] and I don't think we have enough commercial and tax dollars coming into the city."

► Commissioner Michele Thomas
"It's hard to run a city as a bedroom city unfortunately. I always hesitate when we look at these [proposed] changes [away from] commercial use. I think we have enough apartment projects on the books already... it's a hard sell."

Complete 26 minute video below.

•                •                •

"For centuries, theologians have been explaining the unknowable in terms of the-not-worth-knowing."

– H.L. Mencken (1880-1956)



Sounds like ol' Mencky could have been referring to Wildomar Rap.

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• City Council Meeting: Mini-Me Version

There was a special city council meeting this morning (Monday October 2nd) that only had one agenda item. 

Some of the new signage on city hall.

Including roll call and the flag salute (which no one took a knee I might add), it concluded in just over 10 minutes. Below will be a link to the video I took of the meeting.

This meeting was simply some housework dealing with adding additional wording to an existing ordinance. 

Why does such minutiae deserve your attention? 

I'd say because it facilitates the opening of the long anticipated Wildomar Square, in addition to what it can do as a catalyst for other small scale developers.

Another reason this is worthy of your attention is that the same team of self appointed legal beagles, which reportedly murmured the threat of possible legal action at the previous city council meeting, attempted to ply their trade here too.

You too can be smarterer [sic] then [sic] reel [sic] lawyers, all you have to do is say so.

Funny thing though, the only real lawyer in the room, the guy that's paid the big bucks by the city, and has real sheepskin on his office wall, disagreed. He basically said the additional wording to the ordinance wasn't necessary. His comments about the updated ordinance from today's meeting were as follows.

It's an effort to provide notification to readers and users of the municipal code that development impact fees may be deferred, in specific situations and at the discretion of the city. It's not an exemption from impact fees, and I think that's an important distinction. Development projects that choose to participate in this program still have to pay all of their development impact fees, they just pay them over time. 

— Wildomar City Attorney Thomas Jex

But I jumped the gun, that item is discussed further down in the blog.

PUBLIC COMMENTS on non agenda items
Come hell or high water, you can always count on Kenny Mayes to deliver a public comment on non agenda items. His beef this morning was about live streaming city meetings.

That's something I agree wholeheartedly with him on, to a degree that is.

I've been asking for such since 2013. Other cities have had such things for quite a long period of time, though in the past they weren't "live streamed" they were on public access cable channels. In the late '90s I watched a San Clemente city council meeting about a proposed tax to keep open a softball park.

Thing is, without money, even things like having a city youtube channel comes with many burdens. 

Who's the admin, who operates the cameras, what happens when there is a technical problem and a meeting can't be streamed?

You can bet your bottom dollar that the same cranks that whine about everything that goes on in this city would react to such a thing like it were a conspiracy on par with who shot JFK... or who shot JR.

As much fun as it is to have (most) of the last four year's worth of city meetings archived on the Wildomar Rap Youtube channel, I have no obligation to keep them up for posterity, whereas a city would. 

If all he'd opined for were streamed meetings, he could have marked a tally in the win column for a change, but no. He then went off into his typical Kafkaesque nightmare of how the world is ending, or at least Wildomar's world is ending, because of the actions of the council. 

"If this meeting were live streamed many more citizens would be able to participate in this important decision that will affect their lives for as long as they live in Wildomar."

He then ended his harangue by suggesting that the council seeks ways to keep people from participating. Watch the video, and let me know if my description isn't very far off or not.

Dealing with Wildomar's own Oracle of Misinformation is really a boring gig, but when he chews up valuable time with asinine assertions, and there isn't Miss Miller to highlight, I guess he wins.

The only item on the agenda was an ordinance regarding deferral of Payment of the Development Impact Fees (DIF).

There were two public comments.

It started off with Mayes blasting the city council for being "despicable" for holding an "important meeting" on a "weekday morning" when "virtually no one can attend."

It was so "important" that 40% of the council chose to go to their day job instead of the morning meeting, but let's not get too caught up in reality here.

Kenny, buddy, as usual I'm here to walk you through it. Like I said in my public comment, I prefer the morning meetings. 

First, everyone is fresher. 

Second, (no offense or anything but) morning meetings aren't front loaded with 45 minutes worth of attaboys for local kids (you better not be offended ☺).

It would be great if the meetings were streamed and archived like you mentioned earlier, I'm sure it would amount to more people seeing them, but let's cut the crap already. The only people that are going to the meetings are the ones with non standard schedules in the first place. 

Psst... no one gets their city news from bulletin boards at the library or post office, and the fine working folks are far too busy raising their families to bother coming down to city hall to watch the Miller & Mayes show during family TV hour... pass it on.

I was the second speaker. I had missed the prior city council meeting, which ended my DiMaggio-esque consecutive meeting hitting streak, and wanted information that really could have been learned at the last meeting. 

Weird how it works when a person doesn't lead with a surly manner. 

Though it wasn't on the agenda, the council members were happy to give some info on the item that was actually a part of the last meeting because I acted like a decent fellow and not a feral human that had been the lone castaway on Gilligan's Isle... or at least that's how I saw it.

I wanted to know what the deal was (between Wildomar Square and the city) and what would happen if the council had not agreed to the deferral. 

The most important aspect to remember is all of the fees that can be used today, will be paid today. The fees that are being deferred are fees that we don't have enough money to do anything with. We're going to put them in an account and leave them there. 

By deferring them, we're helping the developer get started, or the individual home builder, or the small builder that builds two or three [homes]. It would help all of those people. We haven't set up the guidelines of who will be able to use this. It's definitely not for every builder; a home tract. That's not our intention at all. 

—Council Member Marsha Swanson

To avoid a further logorrheic meltdown, let me attempt to sum it all up.

The developer of the Wildomar Square doesn't have all the money to pay his DIF fees to the city (somewhere in the half million dollar range), and wants the city to (essentially) loan him the money. (The agreement is for 2% interest over 7 years). It got a bit wonky here, something about escrow accounts with all the money in it, that holds the developer's feet to the fire while the details get hashed out. 

Why do this? 

Because if the DIF fee question hadn't been answered, there would have been no certificates of occupancy for the various businesses in that shopping center (though I believe that Taco Bell is on their own there, and have already paid their fees).

Why does the developer find himself in this position? 

Whether it was bad luck, bad timing, or even if it was a level of gamesmanship, what difference would it make to the business owners that have been trying to open their doors for a very long time, or their new employees? What about the eager customers that are looking to patronize the new businesses? 

I wish I'd been to the previous city council meeting where this was discussed so that I'd be able to play the video of what the opposition to this ordinance were really saying/asking for. 

Hey Kenny, you're right, if the videos were archived we could all just dial up the last meeting to hear the exact words of those threatening the city over this, but alas, no such luck.

Without the benefit of being there, it sure sounds like they'd be pleased as punch if Wildomar Square were to languish in limbo. I think these are part of the same group that sought to close the parks over the wording of a tax too.

If the concern was really about making sure all the ordinances were air tight, which is noble enough on the surface of things, then why come on like Margaret Hamilton in green face instead of Glenda?  (If you don't get that easy reference, look it up by clicking here)

I further had chats with Mayor Walker and Councilmember Nigg after the meeting concluded. Way too much to go into here, but suffice to say that this is a common practice between cities and smaller developers, and there are plenty of safeguards in place to insure that the city will get ALL of the money due to us, and with interest. 

As for the complainers? 

Well, that's what complainers do, they complain, and if they can find a way to throw a monkey wrench into the works, it's worn as a badge of honor among that lot, even if it impacts the rest of us. 

My favorite part is the inevitable whining regarding the start time to this, very important meeting (tee hee/eyeroll), being held at a time as to "preclude the community" so they'd claim. 

There were reports of one agitator that acted as if it was specifically aimed at her, which is her MO. In the parlance of the white coated men, that's called paranoia. The jokes with this lot get dumber and more predictable with every passing month. 

In the meantime, Wildomar Square gets another inch closer to welcoming eager patrons.

•                •                •

Your memories are the first step to consciousness. How can you learn from your mistakes if you can't remember them?
– Bernard Lowe (fictional character: West World)

Wildomar Rap loves memory lane almost as much as Lois Lane, Lane Bryant and and Kobe Bryant. Oh shoot, I forgot what the point was.

• Wildomar Square Inches Closer to Opening

If you've lived in Wildomar for more than a couple of years, you've heard about Wildomar Square for more than a decade. The first sign I saw suggested that it would be opening in Fall of 2008, but the recession came and put it on the back burner. 

The stated hope of "Spring 2017" was off by about six months.

So far back on the burner that it lost it's original anchor, In-N-Out Burger (or so the story goes), but The Habit will make everyone else forget about them in short order. 

With all that water under the bridge, Wildomar Square is finally getting set to open... at least in part.

I've noticed that the Taco Bell has looked ready for business for a couple of weeks now, so I thought I'd stop by and take some pics to share. 

It's funny to think about all the fuss some people engaged in when passersby
thought this was going to be a purple building.

I bet the people that freaked out over the primer paint that was used, thinking the building was going to be purple all over, also get upset if they see their scrambled eggs when they are still liquid, worried that they are going to be served cold egg soup. ☺

While there, I spoke to one of the managers (or was he an owner?) and I learned that they had been hoping to open last Saturday (September 16th, 2017), but it's been pushed back to sometime this week.

Bear Creek Optometry, which is currently in the shopping center directly west from Wildomar Square, is going to be relocating to the new center. I stopped by and learned that they anticipate the move to be around the start of the new year.

Another business that will be coming online is called Petrichor Float. They use sensory deprivation tanks for the process of "helping and healing the victims of PTSD and other stress related conditions that traumatize the body and soul". 

Link to Petrichor Float's Facebook Page

There are several businesses in the shopping center that are very close to opening too. Where others appear to have many months left before they'll be able to open for business, one of the buildings hasn't even had the foundation poured yet.

Below are several photos to give you a feel of how far the construction progress is to this point. 

A look at Jersey Mike's and Dunkin' Donuts.

Another view of Jersey Mikes.

Dunkin' Donuts and Baskin Robbins are in the same building which has a drive thru.
Not sure if ice cream cones will be sold that way or not.

A peek inside Baskin Robbins.
Does anyone else still refer to it as 31 Flavors?

This building, which the back of it is against Hidden Springs Rd, will house Angelo's Brick Oven Pizzeria. There is no sign up at this point, so I attached my own.

A look at the right side of the establishment.

Follow their facebook page to know when they'll be opening.

A look at the left side of the restaurant.

Country Kitchen looks to be a good sized eatery, a future breakfast destination to be sure. They have a "Now Hiring" sign, but don't just walk over to Starbucks without calling that number first. I was told by the barista that they've had many people just come in and ask about the interviews but haven't actually seen any conducted. 

Here's a link to their website. I checked the menu, but didn't see any prices.

A look at the inside of Country Kitchen as they get closer to opening.

Sushi Ka is right next to Angelo's. I spoke with Chris (I think he was the owner),
a nice guy and I look forward to tasting their specials once they've opened.
You can probably tell that I added the "coming soon" sign to the building.
It had been hanging on a fence.

The Habit, which is also a drive thru, takes up most of this building.
It's not clear what will occupy that small suite on the far end.

As you can see by the placement of the plants, and other fragile decorations, they are getting ready to open.

Link to their website

After a quick look at their menu, I see that they are a very reasonably priced hamburger place.

This photo reveals that this unit is many months away from being ready for business.

This building hasn't even gotten off the ground yet,
and behind it appears to be the new tire shop (Mountain View Tires).

In total, there are said to be 21 occupants that have signed to do business there, and there remains a few open spots. The site is over 45,000 square feet in total and sits on the southwest corner of Clinton Keith and I-15.

The one thing I haven't seen under construction yet is the 65 foot high sign, with the 200sf LED display, that will be visible from the freeway. 

This graphic was part of the developer's presentation to the Planning Commission. The image on the left represents what it would look like in the daylight hours, and the right side is what it would look like in the evening hours.

You'd think that the owner (and the businesses) would want that thing up BEFORE they opened, not after. Either which way, this center is getting ready for your business.

•                •                •

“The pessimist looks down and hits his head. The optimist looks up and loses his footing. The realist looks forward and adjusts his path accordingly.”
— King Ezekiel from The Walking Dead, writer Robert Kirkman.

Wildomar Rap still hasn't hit its head, or lost its footing, in nearly 4 full years of operation.