• City Council Meeting July 2019

There were three key items that came from the July city council meeting.  

2.1 Faith Bible Church
The general plan amendment from commercial office and medium density housing to commercial retail was approved by the city council 5-0.

The blue star denotes the location of the project.

This allows Faith Bible Church, not to be confused with Wildomar's Faith Baptist Church, to take the next step in building their church.

It's visible from the freeway, about halfway between Clinton Keith and Baxter on the east side of the freeway, just north of the Hartford Park community. Access will be from Depasquale Road, which starts at George Rd (shortly to be changed to Wildomar Trail).

Still shot from an animated visual of the future campus.

I didn't see any serious opposition to the project, and the residents from Hartford Park are said to be in favor of it... one added bonus to a church being on that land is that it can no longer serve as an illegal offroad park. (I can't wait until Baxter Village gets underway, if for no other reason than to take that "motocross park" off the list too.)

They are hoping to get through the permitting process by December/January, begin construction in 2020 with a grand opening for phase one in late 2020 or early 2021.

This item begins at the 1:03:00 mark of the video below.

2.3 Urgency Ordinance Regarding Tobacco Retailing

This still has some moving parts to it (which is a fancy way of saying I can't talk too much about it) so I'll just report the final resolution. The urgency ordinance was extended another ten months and forty-five days, for a total of a year if need be. 

A carve out was added to the ordinance which would allow other such tobacco retailing businesses (including the applicants here at a different location) to open in the city as long as they're a minimum of 600 feet from a public or private school. The final details of the ordinance will be hammered out over the next several months.

Opinion Time

None of the members on city council have a problem with this type of legal business. The problem has always been the extreme proximity to Wildomar Elementary. 

I was sorry to hear the story of the young entrepreneurial partners that one moment were getting ready to go into business, and the next moment see the city breathing down their necks.

They seemed like the type of eager businessmen we'd love to have in town, just not 150 feet from the school. The city will be working with them in efforts to untangle this mess... but the old Jolie Day Spa will NOT become a smoke shop. Hopefully they'll be able to find another location in town.

This item begins at the 1:45:40 mark of the video below.

3.3 Establishment of the Sign Code Update

Ben Benoit and Joseph Morabito were chosen to be on an Ad Hoc subcommittee to help guide staff in the creation of a sign ordinance. (I want to hear your opinions on the topic)

Again, keeping the Brown Act in mind (not being able to say much at this point) we're looking to improve the quality of life and the community in Wildomar. Over the past several years signage has gotten out of control here, both with random signs in the right of way, and even banners hanging on buildings.

You can see how signs multiply like rabbits when left unchecked.

I look forward to working with Ben, Planning Director Matt Bassi and our new Economic Development Director Kimberly Davidson on this matter. We'll be looking to balance the needs of the business with the needs of the community at large. 

One suggestion, if any of those rogue signs are yours why not cut out the middleman and take them down without being told to? 

Of course there was a whole lot more to the meeting, but I ran out of time this week and have to stop here. I invite you to watch the entire meeting in the video below. 

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No one is served by speculation in the absence of facts
– Brian Whitman

Wildomar Rap isn't on a first name basis with speculation, and that's a fact.

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