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I decided to take a field trip to the actual area.
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| The Camelia Townhouse project is slated for the land in the middle of the photo, on the far side of the road (Palomar to Washington). This was taken from Starbuck Circle looking southward. |
I'm guessing that nearly everyone in town has driven by it at least once in their lives, if not weekly.
Thing is, driving by it doesn't really give you an accurate picture. You need to park the car, walk up the hill and take a look at it to get a real grasp of it.
Thing is, driving by it doesn't really give you an accurate picture. You need to park the car, walk up the hill and take a look at it to get a real grasp of it.
It's a rather expansive place with great vistas.
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| A northwesterly view from the hill on the west part of the site. |
Once you're at the westerly peak, and you look south, you see directly into the yards of many homes.
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| Washington Avenue is the road on the right, and you can see the first of the homes in question from about 200 feet away (about the distance of a Little League home run fence). |
The homes are quite nice, and at least one of the backyards I could see would almost qualify as a park in Wildomar.
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| I took this picture from the nearest part of the peak that I could get adequate footing. I'm guessing it was more than 50 feet away. Keep in mind that is closer than the bases are set on a Little League field. The townhouses are said to start 25 feet from a block wall that will have less than 20 feet of no-man's land in between. |
Ok, that's a bit of an overstatement, but it explains why the crowd at the April 5th planning commission meeting groaned when Commissioner Veronica Langworthy suggested that it's a two way street and they should consider planting some trees in their yard to block the views of whatever development ends up going there.
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| An easterly view of the existing block wall that divides Grizzly Ridge from the undeveloped parcel in question. The biggest issue that I can see is confined to the western portion of the project where the hill is well above many of the houses below. |
What gives this proposed development a different wrinkle than others in town is that it is on the border with Murrieta, and it doesn't directly affect anyone in Wildomar like it does those living in the Grizzly Ridge development in Murrieta.
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| As you can see in this image, the issue of the hill towering above Grizzly Ridge isn't in play at the whole site. In this area, the townhouse foundations would be below the existing wall. |
The planning commission, and later the city council, are there to make sure the guidelines are followed, but I have to wonder if this would be on the same track if it were entirely in The W?
Thing is, it isn't.
One public speaker at the planning commission meeting tried to sell that Murrieta so loved Wildomar, that they only built single family homes on the city line.
Tim Huizenga, April 5, 2017 at the Wildomar planning commission meeting.
"When Murrieta did their general plan they kept the future neighbors in mind, and out of pure respect to the rural lifestyle of Wildomar, they only allowed single family homes on the entire five mile border."
Come on Mr. Huizenga, that is flat out silly to suggest. Please don't try the snow job of Murrieta having pure respect for a nonexistent city that they were trying to annex at the time.
I guess that any amount of hooey can be reverse engineered as long as the facts appear to support it. That there aren't multifamily units in Murrieta that border Wildomar only tells me that the developments in question were built back in the day when the only way to lure a person from the OC, LA or SD here was to give them a nice large lot in the process.
I guess that any amount of hooey can be reverse engineered as long as the facts appear to support it. That there aren't multifamily units in Murrieta that border Wildomar only tells me that the developments in question were built back in the day when the only way to lure a person from the OC, LA or SD here was to give them a nice large lot in the process.
Those days are over, and unless someone is going to reveal a document signed by the town fathers of Murrieta, vowing to keep multifamily dwellings from the view of Wildomar, I'm not buying it.
I remember when the Wildomar planning commission was putting together the housing element. It was one of the first meetings I'd gone to in 2013 and I distinctly remember one of the commissioners being amused at the thought of putting high density along the borders with both Murrieta and Lake Elsinore.
One of the suggestions was to remove the uppermost portions of the hill.
They (the developers) said they couldn't do that due to the incline of Jefferson and how it would hook up with Palomar.
They (the developers) said they couldn't do that due to the incline of Jefferson and how it would hook up with Palomar.
If you go out there, you'll quickly see how that is utter nonsense. There is no reason why they can't lower that hill so that it's at the same level as the existing houses.
Oh wait, I just thought of a reason... it'll cost money. Apparently a lot more money than a proposed 8' block wall (that isn't legal here), and the 36" box trees that they're hoping will fly instead.
This isn't set to come back to the planning commission until the latter half of June, but I think that it only fair that anyone voting on this project (either commissioner or council member) take a walking tour of the area first. Maybe even see if one of the residents will invite you to take a look from their perspective too.
If I were in that neighborhood I wouldn't budge off the point of having the key portions of that hill removed first, or set back the units at least 150 feet or more and leave some open space there instead.
Now time for some fun.
While I was out there, enjoying the vast and expansive views, I stumbled onto a giant dumping ground.
From above it looked like a homeless camp. Once on the scene I could see that it was just the discards from some lowly white trash types (being that I pass as "white" I can say "white trash" with impunity).
If I were in that neighborhood I wouldn't budge off the point of having the key portions of that hill removed first, or set back the units at least 150 feet or more and leave some open space there instead.
Now time for some fun.
While I was out there, enjoying the vast and expansive views, I stumbled onto a giant dumping ground.
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| It's not as impressive from far away as it is up close. |
From above it looked like a homeless camp. Once on the scene I could see that it was just the discards from some lowly white trash types (being that I pass as "white" I can say "white trash" with impunity).
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| The debris field was at least 100 feet long. |
Not long ago I praised how quickly code enforcement was able to remove a couch from the roadway.
Well fellas, looks like it's time for you to spring into action again. From what I heard at the planning commission meetings, this land is owned by Bill Lo, and though I doubt he's the guy that dumped the kids toys there... they're his now.
I'm sure we all remember the impromptu dump that was on Palomar and Wesley back in 2014, that I dubbed Boberta's Thrift Store... if not, there is a parody video promotion for it below.
Well, if you like Boberta's Thrift Store...
...you're going to love Camelia's Open Air Thrift Emporium even better!
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| It takes a special kind of cretin to sump their garbage on other people's land. |
Well, if you like Boberta's Thrift Store...
...you're going to love Camelia's Open Air Thrift Emporium even better!
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“Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split, as a general thing.”
– Robert E. Howard 1906-1936
Wildomar Rap knows quite few people that wouldn't get more than two or three sentences out before getting their skulls crushed by their fellow savages.
– Robert E. Howard 1906-1936
Wildomar Rap knows quite few people that wouldn't get more than two or three sentences out before getting their skulls crushed by their fellow savages.
Joseph, Thank you for these pictures, in them you can at least see the back yards of the Grizzly Ridge adjoining homes and that you can see into them from 50 feet away which is way farther than the developer has opted to move his project. I wish the pictures were closer up because they back yards are like spas. I think it insulting that a planning commissioner would suggest that the residents of Grizzly Ridge should upgrade their already beautiful landscaping. No matter what the developer landscapes with unless he puts in 20 foot hedges people will walk up to the wall and peer into their neighbors yards. Can you imagine if even 50 of the 400+ residents of Camelia chose to spy on Grizzly Ridge residents what kind of hostility that will create?
ReplyDeleteAlso, I want to mention this does affect the Wildomar residents as the 163 acres to the north of this project is for sale so what do you suppose will be built on them. That development will border the Stonehurst Residential Community in Wildomar. I have met some people along that north end of the vacant acres and they are not happy.