• Wildomar Trail Town Center

I've lived in Wildomar for twenty solid years. We moved here in the Spring of 2001. 

Those were the pre 9-11 days where things were far simpler both in the nation and in W'mar. The field that will be the site of Wildomar Trail Town Center was more like a dog park in those days. 

Our dogs loved running there.

The entrance to Windsong Valley didn't have a traffic light, and not even a four way stop. On the days that the pepper tree was overgrown and it was high traffic time, getting out of Windsong was almost as dicey as getting across Clinton Keith from Hidden Springs at morning rush hour is in 2021.

From the moment I moved here I knew that something would eventually be put into that field. 

You may have seen this sign if you've entered the Windsong Valley neighborhood from Wildomar Trail. 

Being a realist, that it was someone else's property, and right on the freeway (though with poor line of sight visibility), that something other than a nature reserve would be going in there. 

My joke was always, as long as they don't build a tire fire (like in the Simpson's hometown of Springfield), I'd be good with it.

It's a toss up between a tire fire and a Sriracha factory as worst potential development options, unless an international airport is being considered too. 

But if you look at the proposal, it's really the best of all possible options

Mixed use project with a gas station and mini-mart along with 41K sf of commercial retail (phases 1 and 2). 72K sf of professional office space (phase 3) and a 109 unit FOR SALE town home community (phase 4).

The water basin near the corner of Cervera and Wildomar Trail will be part of phase 1.

From what I can see in the images, there are two drive thru pads and one restaurant pad too. Also, the bend in Wildomar Trail will be smoothed out a bit too. Look at the top part of the yellow portion to see it.

If you look at the configuration of the maps, you'll see that there is a rather healthy buffer between the commercial areas and the existing Windsong Valley neighborhood. 

The buffer consists of a parking lot, and a water quality basin.

I have heard concerns about traffic from the 109 homes onto Cervera. I don't share the same concerns, but if this is something you want the planning commission, or the city council in a subsequent meeting, to discuss... please, PLEASE email your concerns to the planning director and ask him to distribute them the various members.

mbassi@cityofwildomar.org

As for me, the only question I'd have when it comes to the ingress and egress to the town homes from Cervera is if there will be a turn pocket for those turning left. If not, I can envision some potential issues. 

There is the same buffer between the town homes and those that we find throughout the rest of the neighborhood... which is minimal, but we're already used to that. 

If I haven't already made it clear, I live close enough to this development that I could throw a baseball into it even with my aging arm. Therefore, I won't have a vote on this.

You can see the RV Fueling Area that is part of the gas station, and also the car wash.

But I still have some questions.

1) what are your plans to mitigate rodents as you disturb their habitat?

Seriously, as someone that lives at ground zero of a daily squirrel infestation, I want to know that there is something in place to keep them from moving their living quarters here too.

2) Will there be an ongoing rodent mitigation plan that the new center will be obligated to keep up from here on out?

I can't stress this enough, we don't want any more rodents in our neighborhood from that field, and considering the several water quality basins I'd like to know that there is a real plan in place to not allow new colonies of rats with fuzzy tails to take hold. 

3) What is the timeline for completing Wildomar Trail improvements? 

I sure hope that there will NOT be any certificates of occupancy issued before the entire frontage of Wildomar Trail is improved from Cervera to the freeway.

4) What is the potential timeline for breaking ground on Phase 1?

I'd love to see this begin soon, and that goes for the projects on both sides of Wildomar Trail in that area. 

5) Will there be walkable connectivity between the commercial retail and Cervera?

6) What is the plan for the Cervera buffer between the neighborhoods and Wildomar Trail? (I used to refer to this as the Cervera green belt, but it's time to give up the ghost on that one)

This has been a sticking point for many for a very long time. It's too complicated to go into here, but I'm looking forward to a real plan that will make the entire stretch look attractive again, though I know it's unreasonable for it to be grass.

I would like to know the specific plans and the specific time tables.

The town homes that are on Cervera's edge are in Phase 4 and I do NOT have confidence that it will be built anytime soon.  

I'd love to be wrong, but I've seen time tables for similar things stretch to well more than a decade with no actual forward movement.

Also, everyone should be celebrating that high density low income units that were originally slated for there have been moved to the other side of the freeway. 

I want these built post haste because who knows what Sacramento will do in the interim, they may allow far more units and much higher than three stories if this gets delayed too much into the future.

If you have opinions or concerns I invite you to email either the planning director as mentioned above mbassi@cityofwildomar.org or the other four council members individually. 

I'm more than happy to receive an email from you (jmorabito@cityofwildomar.org) but I have no vote here, so it'll just be a conversation between neighbors at that point. 

Gotta love the protections that Sacramento has laid out for us all. Since I live within a literal stone's throw from that field, and somehow could make money in the value of my home going up, I cannot even get first hand info from staff, much less be able to vote on this. 

Here is a link to the city page with the agenda packet listed. It's far larger than usual city agendas. If you're interested in more details, use this link to navigate the contents.