• Camelia Townhouse Project Slated For Next City Council Meeting

What started off as a throw away item back at the first of the year, has snowballed its way to the city council agenda; leaving an interesting wake in its path. 

Though it doesn't make sense on the surface, it's definitely gotten more people to take a look than any other thing that has hit Wildomar during the four years that I've been watching closely. 

Far more than the Prop 64 issue, and dwarfs the numbers of interested residents when we switched from open seat to district based city council elections.

The next biggest crowd I can remember was when Walmart was being discussed, and it's fair to say that a considerable chunk of that audience was only there because of the free pizza they'd been fed by the applicant. 

Set your sundials to 6:30pm Wednesday, August 9th and prepare yourself for an overflow crowd. 

The city council chambers are where the red arrow indicates. This is at southernmost part of the Albertson's shopping center off of Clinton Keith. As you can see, there isn't a lot of parking available. Most times you can roll up at the last second and get a seat. That isn't going to happen at this meeting. It's anticipated that there will be many people outside, listening from a PA system.

Contrary to a false report (that will be detailed in a moment) it's NOT a "special agenda meeting". It's a regular city council meeting, on the regular day they occur, but let's not allow facts to cloud the preferred narrative a small group of malcontents are pushing.

If this is your first visit to Wildomar Rap, you may not know what Camelia Townhouse project is. The proposed development, which fits into the long standing general plan of the city —even long before Wildomar or Murrieta were incorporated, is 163 unit, gated townhouse/condo community on the city line with Murrieta where Palomar St runs into Washington Ave.

I've written a semester's worth of opinion on this project since I first heard about it back in February. If you need more of the backstory, click the Camelia Townhouse Project tags at the bottom of this blog.

I started off against the original project for several reasons. Among my reasons were: 

• Too close to the existing homes in the subdivision called Grizzly Ridge. 
• Palomar St will be a bottleneck/traffic nightmare in the making.

Point one: I saw the hyper-proximity as an unnecessary and unfair intrusion upon the people in Grizzly Ridge. The developer has since come back with several revisions which push the buildings far back off the wall compared to what was first discussed.

Also, since those early days of the Camelia Project, I've learned what is and what is not in play when it comes to the demands that cities can legally levy against a developer. Homes looking over other homes (especially in a hilly area) simply isn't one of them.

Point two: Improvement of Palomar hasn't been addressed to my liking. More important than a traffic light (instead of a stop sign) is how Palomar-Jefferson road would go from four lanes down to two lanes, and back up to four lanes... all within a mile of the Clinton Keith intersection, and passing right in front of a Pre-K through 8th grade school.

There are two projects currently working their way through the system.
Single family homes on the west side of the street and condos on the east side.
The orange circle represents where the three roads will meet.

I've done a blog where I spoke with the city Planning Director Matt Bassi, and asked him many salient questions on the matter. That was in an effort to tamp down the disinformation campaign being pushed from a ragtag group that call themselves Warriors of Wildomar. (link to said blog) 

A few days later I wrote a blog on the opposition to this project. It was rather scathing at times even though I'm also against the proposed development. 

I find that both prominent prongs of the opposition seem to be trying to out Munchhausen the old Baron himself. 

In plain English, they've been exaggerating considerably. 

Some of the things that were said by public speakers during city meetings were laugh out loud funny... except they were all delivered with straight faces. 

(Link to that blog is here including video link of the head scratching claims)

Normally, that would be the end of this blog... see you Wednesday evening. However, to borrow a line from Gilbert & Sullivan's HMS Pinafore: Things are seldom what they seem.

Another misleading flyer/handbill/postcard was distributed to some residents of Wildomar and I thought we should review that here.

Neither the front, nor the back gives information about who wrote this or who paid for it to be produced and mailed. It's 6"x11" and I'm guessing it's more than free to produce and distribute. 

Did the Warriors of Wildomar change their name or is this a new group? Hey, I've heard that many great bands have gone through many trial names before sticking with their final version. The Beatles used to be The Quarrymen and Jethro Tull supposedly had a new name every week until the last one stuck.

Who would be spending anywhere from several hundred dollars to a couple of thousand dollars on this? Is it really one elderly widow doing this? (Man, I could really get lost in the rabbit hole trying to unravel the mystery that propels such a person... but I have a life.)

Let's take a closer look at it. The lies are underlined in red and you tell me what you think the green underline may represent.

This mailer was riddled with grammatical errors. If this was a comment on the internet, that would be different, we're all tired of the grammar nazis that are quick to point out where a person opted for the incorrect "they're, there or their." 

But this isn't an internet comment and I think it's fair to expect someone that wants to be taken seriously to publish things as error free as possible. No one is perfect on that front, especially this blog, but I go back and reread each blog several times before accepting it as final. Credibility starts with the first impression, and can be lost over trivial things. Why should anyone take someone more seriously than they represent themselves to be?

Lie number one: suggesting that this is a special agenda meeting. As Trump would say: WRONG.

It's just a regular meeting folks. We've had plenty of special city council meetings. I can recall when we were forced to adopt city council districts, and recently the ones dealing with Prop 64. This ain't one of 'em.

Lie number 2: Saying that approving this will "open the door to similar high density multi-family dwellings along Palomar St." 

First, go look at the general plan, and you'll see what will eventually come to town (assuming that land owners want to develop their property that is).  

It's been made crystal clear what can and can't come in along that area... and that's not even taking into account the fact that there aren't many open tracts of land there to begin with.

Lie 2.1 is saying this is "high density". It may be splitting hairs in the eyes of some, but it's clearly medium high density, and not even at the high water mark of what's allowed in that category.

Ten points listed, so I'll comment on all ten. I'll transcribe the above to make reading a bit easier (including the original nonstandard capitalization).

1. Is Palomar Street at our border with Murrieta the best use of our rural properties to put a high-density development that does not have close access to freeways, shopping or entertainment?

1: As my grandpappy would say, "who is this 'we'? Do y'all have a mouse in yer back pocket or sumpin?" Seriously, how deranged must you be to suggest that other people's land is "our rural property"? 

Wildomar doesn't own it, it's not "ours". Is this a suggestion that the city of Wildomar make an offer to purchase it? If so, after we own it, then what should we do with it?

2. This development will extend Jefferson ave., a 4 Lane road, To Connect to Palomar Street, a 2 lane road, Washington avenue a 4 Lane road, also feeds into 2 lane Palomar street causing massive traffic jams thru Wildomar.

2: Well said, I agree. this is the only point that will actually matter in the long run. Though, the suggestion that "massive traffic jams throughout Wildomar" is preposterous. 

3. Jefferson, Washington, and Palomar/mission trail will be the alternate route for the interstate 15 freeway. 

3: Hello McFly, it already is. The app called WAZE has sent me (as a passenger mind you) that exact path two out of the last four Saturdays on the way to San Diego. People are going to use side streets whether the road is improved or not.

We already have a lot of people in SoCal (well beyond our quaint little hamlet) that are clogging the roads. You can't really expect them to stay on the 15 just because they've hit the W.

4. Is one law enforcement officer per night shift enough to protect our lives and property?

4: Looks like someone majored in straw man arguments. What does our police coverage, which is already in the works to being beefed up since Governor Moonbeam returned our stolen money, have to do with this? 

5. Is Palomar Street safe enough and maintained enough to handle a huge influx in cars & trucks?

5: Didn't we already discuss how the road conditions on Palomar St are the keys here? We need the infrastructure in place before, not after.

6. What will the financial impact be on our local streets, police fire & safety services?

6: This is another of those kitchen sink points. Just make a lot of noise while waving your hands in the air and it will attract attention, use everything including the kitchen sink if necessary. 

Those questions are asked —and answered, with everything that comes before the city. Call your council member if you have questions, don't look for such things on the internet or in a poorly written flyer mailed to your home that doesn't clearly tell you what group is sponsoring it.

7. Do you worry about future population, safety, traffic, quality of life and overcrowding of our school system?

7: I worry about a lot of things, but I usually consult the prayer of serenity, then see if it's something that I can change or not. We all would love to turn the clock back to a time when California had half its current population, but that's not ever happening. 

People keep making more people (like we're xerox machines or something) and when those little bundles of joy grow up, they're going to need a place of their own... so they can start the whole vicious cycle over again. That means more

places to live. 

8. Did you know that the zoning map means nothing to our elected officials?

8: Here's one of the outright lies. Seriously, it either takes a heap load of temerity, or heavy doses of stupidity to speak for people that you've never spoken to on the matter. But I'm willing to be corrected here. Produce the tape of our elected officials saying that the zoning map means nothing to them and I'll do a full retraction, and a curtsy just for good measure.

But let's pretend that the writer of those words was on the other side of the curtain in the confessional when our elected officials spewed their disdain for the zoning map.

(This is another McFly moment, please revisit the movieclip above if necessary) 

There are two different maps, and the differences were gone over in detail in the blog with the Planning Director. Anyone still pushing this angle here is intentionally trying to play on other people's lack of awareness. 

The General Plan establishes the land use, the zoning establishes how you develop the site. It's development standards such as setbacks, building height, parking, landscaping, where the roads should go internally.

9. Do you still want Wildomar to have a rural atmosphere?

9: "Still"? 

That implies there ever was a time...doesn't it?

There are indeed patches of "rural" still in Wildomar, but it's disingenuous to try and lump in undeveloped land, that has been used as a dumping ground for years, as if it's some pastoral heritage spot. 

Just for fun, I googled "rural" to get some general images of such places. I then looked through my collection of Wildomar snapshots for "rural" themes and I didn't get exact matches.

The lower right pic is where Camelia is proposed to be built, taken in the Spring.
Which 2018 calendar do you want to find stuffed into your stocking this year?
Can you identify the actual spots in Wildomar?

10. Do you want our elected officials to turn Wildomar into another Murrieta or Temecula?

10: Where was it EVER suggested that anyone, much less the elected officials, have been aiming to do any such thing? Shall we categorize this as a whopper or just an innocent fib?

BTW, When did people switch from saying, "we don't want to be another Orange County" to our cousin cities to the south?

Hey Warrior, if we were going to be like another city/area is it ok if I don't want it to be like Lakeland Village, Home Gardens, Hemet, etc? 

Face facts, even if it was the stated goal of every Wildomar man, woman and child to be exactly like Murrieta and Temecula it would never happen, EVER. The die was cast long ago when it came to the area now known as Wildomar, and there is no undoing it, so stop pretending it's even a remote possibility... especially when it's the furthest thing from reality.

This is the story that just doesn't end. 

Funny thing is, I'm placing even odds that Wednesday won't be the day of decision either. Remember the preferred trick known as a document dump? 

That's when those trying to muck up the works serve their lawsuit moments before the meeting starts. We're about due for another one of those. 

Many seasoned city council watchers are fully expecting some lawsuit or another that would scuttle the item until the developer could have his legal people look it over. 

•

Though I haven't heard any of the details, it's understood that the developers have made several revisions to the plans to accommodate the concerns of the residents in Grizzly Ridge. I'll be interested to see what they include. 

If the changes are legit, and really address the key concerns of the Murrieta group, I have to wonder how many will still read from a prepared script, possibly mentioning things no longer relevant, when they get their two minutes at the microphone. 

We'll find out in a matter of days. 

In the meantime, I'm loving all the reports my friends send my way of the endless futzing that is done over my blog. 

This was part of a group email among them.
That is outstanding. It's such a natural... how is it that I didn't come up with that years ago?
Hat's off to the warriors... ya got me good. 

Last I checked, WR isn't required reading. If you're reading this, it's because you want to. That some people can't focus on anything past this Camelia issue is as comical as it is pathetic. 

Case in point

Taken from about 150 in the air above Casa de W'Rap looking to the east.

I posted an interesting view of the hills to the east of Wildomar at my WR facebook page, and instead of thumbs up, I got oddball references to the Camelia Townhouse project. 

Below is a screen capture of an odd exchange that showed up on the photo. The thread picks up midway through. If you need to see it in its entirety, follow this link.

Though my wife recently got into a big rollover accident near the Baxter off ramp (thankfully she managed to walk away from it and no other cars were involved) I didn't need that wake up call to remind me to focus on what really matters in life. 

Four strangers stopped to assist my wife.

Seriously, getting bent out of shape because people have differing opinions is the least important reason to start getting angry. 

Even if their contrary opinions are based on half truths and blatant lies like the ones in the mailer above?

Yes, even if...

Do your own research (when it comes to everything) and don't put your faith in random postcards that do not tell you who is the author, have no return address, nor do they back up their emotion rooted silliness. 

Unless... you're that person that believes everything they read.

If you're not laughing your ass off at Honest Abe's quote,
then you might just be a Warrior from Wildomar.

•          •          •

"Always keep an open mind. Like me, for example, I don't really like the theater but I'm going to give it a shot."

– Abraham Lincoln

Wildomar Rap reminds the McFlys of the world that the above quote is also fake. 

• Various and Sundry Things Vol 2

Here are a couple of things that caught my attention recently, some much more important than the others.

Condolences to the family and friends of Eric Whitcomb

On June 14th, officers responded to the Circle K on Lakeshore Drive in Lake Elsinore, about 5:20 a.m. to a report of an assault with a deadly weapon and found Wildomar resident, 49-year-old Eric Whitcomb the victim of a gunshot wound.

Whitcomb worked as a Circle K cashier for 12 years.

In a released statement, Heather Bailey, spokesperson for Circle K said, "We are saddened by the passing of our longtime cashier and member of our team who was involved in a fatal incident this morning during a senseless act of violence at our Lake Elsinore store. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends, as we fully cooperate with authorities to bring this crime to justice."

There is a GoFundMe page set up to help

Click this image to donate.

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This week there was a tempest in a Facebook teapot, as many people were angry at the "ugly purple building" that was going in at the long anticipated Wildomar Square, on the southwest side of Clinton Keith and the 15.

It's a Taco Bell, and Purple is one of their colors

A look at the coming Taco Bell as of June 15th, 2017. I've included an inset of what newer designed Taco Bells are supposed to look like. Can you see the bird of prey that found its way into the upper part of the picture?

My favorite quote that someone left went something like this, "I can't believe the city is allowing them to have an ugly purple building when they won't let me paint my house the color I want."

Umm... you live in an HOA, and they're the ones controlling your house color. The city doesn't care what color you paint your house.

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Not sure when the new T-Mobile store is going to open, but I saw the sign. It's going to be next to Great Clips in the Stater Brother's center.

"Coming Soon" can mean anything from a couple of weeks, to a couple of months... and sometimes longer.

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Illegal signage

It's basically all over town, and not just from Bridal Expos being held in another county. I've seen well respected businesses, like Yellow Basket, just planting their signs wherever they feel like it.

These signs are in many different places throughout the city.
This one is at the northeast corner of Central and Palomar.

Who's to blame them when code enforcement doesn't remove the signs, and there is no fining mechanism in place to deter repeat offenders either. 

Seriously, if the city isn't going to police this, then why wouldn't every business owner go get some cheap signs made and splash them up all over town? If and when they get removed, it's just part of the cost of doing business... and a lot cheaper than traditional advertising options too.

My favorite in your face illegal sign has to go to the one in front of Starbucks in the Albertson's parking lot. Talk about chutzpah. They're willing to make and put the signs up for you at what appears to be a smokin' hot price.

Until the city acts like they care about such things, if you need to get the word out, you might as well give this guy a call... though he's not even from Riverside County (based on the area code). Come on, let's at least keep the dollars local. ☺

This guy just goes around attaching mini posters to stop signs, and there they hang. I guess they are nicer looking than hand made garage sale signs.

At least these gems are usually gone by the end of the weekend.

This would include the signs for Wildomar Soccer that seem to be a permanent thing in more than one location. Seriously coach, don't you understand the law of diminishing returns?

Is there ever a time that these aren't up?

Put your youth sports banners up periodically, not perpetually. 

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Last on my list of things you might be interested in knowing is about wasted city money. 

I found out the amount of money the city has had to pay out defending ONE of Martha Bridges' lawsuits against Wildomar.

I put in a request for information asking how much it's cost us to defend against all her lawsuits versus the city. 

I only got a partial answer, for just one case. 

The one involving the General Plan, that was recently ruled in the favor of Wildomar at the appellate level. The total fees, over a 4½ year period, are $118,343.00!

Remember, if you ever hear the claim that she doesn't cost the city money, even when she loses (like above) the city still has to pay the attorneys that represent us. 

Hey, the story is that she still has until mid July to file an appeal to the California Supreme Court. The difference is that the appellate courts must hear the case (then laugh under their breath when it's argued). 

Whereas a person can file an appeal to the Supreme Court, but they aren't obligated to take it, and can simply laugh in the person's face as they tell them to scram. Let's hope she wastes her time and effort in such a feckless endeavor.

•          •          •

What is darkness? it is the state from which we emerge, and it's the condition to which we return. We come from the darkness of the womb, we leave for the darkness of the tomb. In between is the light and life.
– E.G. Marshall, CBSRMT (1974)

If you haven't figured it out yet, Wildomar Rap is a big fan of E.G. Marshall's work on CBSRMT.

• FAKE News?

I think most of us have become tired of what has become known as FAKE news.

Without touching any of the FAKE national news, let's just talk about two local cases of it.

The first is dealing with Ortega Highway.

A sinkhole developed on Wednesday January 25th on Ortega Highway. 

That part is REAL NEWS, it's closed!

The road will remain closed to through traffic for the better part of three weeks.

Graphic from Orange County Register story.

Link to Press Enterprise article

Link to Orange County Register article

The FAKE part of the story is the picture that has been floating around.

Facebook is a good way for people to share local info quickly, but all too often popular threads get taken over by bored people that try to derail a topic or just are sharing information that they don't know is false.

This FAKE image was shared by a resident on Councilmember
Bridgette Moore's thread on the topic of the Ortega Highway sinkhole.

Most people see such an image and take it as legitimate. Looks real enough at first glance.

Other than the silly over the top bottomless pit, the fact it's not in the place that has been reported, coupled with the hills not showing the signs of two weeks worth of rain (it's bone dry in that image), or that those weren't the types of clouds in the sky, it would make for a passable April Fools prank.

Our esteemed Assemblywoman Melissa Melendez was even hooked by it when she unknowingly tweeted the fake photo out.

I can't wait to ask MM about this at her next community coffee,
which happens to be tomorrow. (Friday January 27th At RJs in Murrieta)

Here is a look at the real sinkhole as captured and shared by a Facebook user.

No harm no foul here since no one was hurt, but then there is another recent local story where a person's reputation was attacked with false statements being repeated on Facebook.

In Canyon Lake a resident's dog was attacked by a bird of prey on January 14th. From there false rumors spread like wildfire.

Before they knew what had actually happened to the dog, the police were called out and the dog owners were asked, "[W]ho they thought could be responsible for harming their dog."

They'd reportedly had some run ins with a neighbor in the past, so his name was given to the officer. 

Instead of reporting the angst of losing her dog to a personal diary, Facebook was chosen instead.

Please read the Friday Flyer story detailing the incident.

Quote from the Friday Flyer article.

If being accused of shooting a neighbor's pet and being hounded on social media wasn't bad enough, the falsely accused man then had to put up with intimidation from a crowd of local residents. Not to mention many far flung places too.

The story made it's way to KTLA, then went viral. It was found at FOX 13 Salt Lake City, the U.K. website Dailymail, and Georgia Newsday.

Link to FOX 13 Salt Lake City report

He had the courage to go and and speak directly to the crowd outside his home (presumably his neighbors), something that an innocent person would think a reasonable move, but when people are driven by emotion instead of logic things don't always work out as planned.

An officer on the scene had to intervene.

Additional quote from the Friday Flyer article.

This trickled down to the local Facebook pages and someone suggested that "False accusations should be considered criminal acts."

No need for this to be a federal case when a civil case will more than make the point. That's what the courts are for, and this sure seems to be a solid case of libel if ever there was one involving neighbor v neighbor.

Facebook is the prevailing mode of societal communication these days, and just like crank/prank calls of the past were part and parcel of that world, internet trolls are part of the modern one.

With that said, if Wildomar Rap comes up with a humdinger of a silly story, and you notice it's April 1st, do the math.

Still, if and when that glorious day comes, such 'stories' will be clearly marked as a joke, just in case your senses aren't up to snuff that day. ☺

•          •          •

When I was a kid, among the other embarrassing things I would do, and there's a list of stupid things, but I would make these dumb comedy tapes. I would often make prank phone calls, but I would also do it with friends.
– J.J. Abrams

Wildomar Rap thinks that the pranks that kids did on the phone in the 1970's don't quite measure up to what happens everyday on social media.