• Planning Commission Meeting April 2018

There was just one item on the April 18th special planning commission meeting, Wildomar Crossings Commercial Retail Center. 

There are four pads, three of which have already been leased to nationally known companies.

Between the residents of the North Ranch neighborhood, and the regional representation of three of the signed stores set to go into that center, there were quite a few in attendance. 

The project, which was approved and sent to the city council for the final ok, is slated to bring an AutoZone, Wendy's and Dollar Tree.

There was a brief presentation (full video is at the bottom of the blog), public comments, then commission discussion. 

The key concerns I noted from the commission were about the look of the buildings. I'm not sure when this was designed, but the buildings came across as boxy, and not in the fashion that Wildomar has been trying to achieve. (Think of The Barn at Palomar and Clinton Keith, to get a feel of the style preferred now).

It was entered into the record that prior to the issuance of building permits that the applicant submit a "substantial conformance application" to the planning department for planning director review and approval regarding the planning commissions concerns over architecture.

This was the sign in the agenda packet. I'm a little surprised that it didn't have the center's name on it, or any Wildomar branding, or that it wasn't a topic of discussion among the commissioners. Maybe I missed something along the way.

The public speakers came in two groups. 

First were the representatives of the center. 

  • The landowner Greta Goplen
  • Jeff Foreman of Dollar Tree
  • AutoZone had three speakers (Zubier Sakhi - regional manager, Levon Age - Wildomar resident, Michael Chastain)
  • Ziad Boukai (sp?) of Wendy's
  • Michael Schweitzer (representing the project engineers) 

The next speaker was Jimmy Elrod of Southwest Regional Council of Carpenters. His group has sent many letters to the city and developers about this project, including one the day before (smells like a document dump to me). The moment he mentioned CEQA and GHG emissions my eyes fogged over. 

I'm still trying to figure out what a Council of Carpenters is interested in here. Are they worried the construction work is slated to go to non union workers or something? 

Nice touch with the day-glow orange vests.

The next group of speakers came up (actually just two), and they were residents of the North Ranch subdivision.

  • Jesus Maldonado

  • Debbie Yuan

The types of stores was the key focus of the speakers. The building design was also called into question.

"The stores aren't consistent with the neighborhood. [...] I don't have anything against stores like Dollar Tree or Wendy's or AutoZone, but the neighborhood has moved up in caliber. So these stores, as they are currently planned, are no longer applicable to our community."

— North Ranch resident Debbie Yuan

As stated by Planning Director Matt Bassi during the first few minutes of his presentation:

We have received many comments from residents in North Ranch, there was a petition that came through, that is in the agenda packet, as well as a couple of individual letters, saying that they don't like the tenant mix in this particular development. Our zoning code, unfortunately, does not allow us the flexibility to regulate the type of users, only the use.

— Wildomar Planning Director Matt Bassi

Map of the area and recent news worthy spots.

1: Wildomar Crossings 2: Wildomar Square 3: Where four story apartments were discussed, but no thumbs up given 4: area that has been the site of homeless activity mentioned in the April city council meeting.

One letter to Planning Director Matt Bassi had this passage in it, "I understand the reasoning behind it (Wildomar Crossings) which is profit for the city, but since we already have retail in every corner by the 15 fwy why not think about beautifying Wildomar instead?"

All due respect to the concerned resident, but it has nothing to do with the city "profiting" or not. 

It's all about the landowner's rights to use their property in accordance with the laws of the state and the general plan of the city. 

If they're doing that, then it's difficult to tell a landowner that they still have to pay taxes on their land, still maintain their land, and yet leave their land fallow because people living adjacent to it prefer it that way.

A petition from Neighbors near the proposed Wildomar Crossings Retail Center, signed by over 100 residents, was included in the agenda package.

Link to the full petition

In the letters to the city and developers there were a couple of quotes worthy of sharing. I don't believe they are out of context the way I'm about to use them.

In a letter from Debbie Yuan she states: 
Most of us moved into this new community within the last 2, 3 years. We were informed at the time we purchased our homes that this location was zoned for commercial use.

In the petition I found this:
After the development is completed, it would have severe overall infringement on our quality of life, on the quiet and private residential lifestyle we sought when we purchased our home.

It seems that there is a bit of inconsistency in the two thoughts.

Since many of you in North Ranch are new to the area, perhaps you were able to avoid something called Camelia Townhouse Project; that item sucked up a lot of oxygen in the first half of last year.

In a nutshell, it was dealing with neighbors not liking a proposed project on land behind their houses. The things that those educated adults were willing to say —into a live microphone— were astounding at times (just go check out the video highlights with this link). Let's hope their fever doesn't spread to those in North Ranch.

To illustrate the point of living near an empty field, I live two houses away from a field that already has plans drawn up. When I bought the house, I knew that it wasn't going to be turned into a nature preserve or park. I'm just glad it's not slated to be a Sriracha sauce factory. ☺

A key part of the petition was the "If they build" part.

From the petition

IF this location is to be developed for commercial use, below are some suggestions for businesses that would help to preserve the integrity of the neighborhood, and maintain the quality of living for the residents:
   – High-end Day Spa or Salon
   – Pier 1 Imports, Pottery Barn, Home Goods, or similar retail store
   – Bank or Credit Union
   – Insurance Company
   – Legal Service, Escrow, or Title Office
   – Fitness Gym, Dance Studio, Yoga Studio
   – Small Health Store
   – Flower Shop or Gift Boutique
   – Alternative Food and Restaurant
        • Panera or Bakery
        • Lemonade or Juice Bar
        • Ethnic / Global Food option – such as Chinese Food, Thai Food, Indian, or Mediterranean

I'm a little surprised that Trader Joe's wasn't on that list, it would be number one on my wish list. ☺

I like the list of business ideas, but many of those are already well represented in town. 

Let's go down the list

► We have several high end day spas in town.
► Pier One would be great, but if people were saying that we could drive to another city for auto parts or dollar store purchases, I'm guessing that bigger ticketed items at such stores could be plagued by the same logic.
► Wildomar Square has a new credit union, but it is a nice suggestion.
► When it comes to legal services, title and escrow those don't usually anchor a center. They generally are in office space. This center has a handful of buildings and they are looking for nationally known tenants.
► Fitness gym, dance or yoga was mentioned. Great ideas to be sure. We don't have a dance studio anymore, but there is Just Yoga that is preparing to open their doors any week now, in Wildomar Square.
► When it comes to a small health store, flower shop or gift boutique, perhaps those will be the types of businesses that lease the other building.
► I love the idea of what is being called ethnic/global food choices. Personally, I'm not a fast food guy. Other than their grand opening, I probably would rarely visit Wendy's. Still, they are a popular national chain, and people love them. (I've still NEVER stepped foot into the Wildomar McDonald's)

As it happens, there is a Thai restaurant being built in Wildomar Square, and let's not forget Los Reyes, Old Market Grill, Angelo's, Tresino, Sushi Ka or Poke Port already doing business in town (apologies to the other "ethnic/global" eateries not mentioned).

Look for this to come before the city council on May 9th.

Below is a video link to the entire agenda item.

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– Thomas Jefferson 

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