Hired as Vice President of Land Development for KACOR (Kaiser
Aluminum and Chemical Corporation) on New Year’s Eve 1982, Dennis Chiniaeff’s
job was to bring his interests in urban history, sociology and geography, as well as his
master’s degree in Urban Planning, to bear on the development of Rancho California.
"My job was to prepare for the [15] freeway coming up from San Diego," Chiniaeff
said.
Remarkably, Rancho California had a stretch of 6-8 lanes of freeway
running through the valley, although fed by the smaller highway 395 on both ends.
"Ronald Reagan owned 700 acres up in Tenaja," Chiniaeff remembered. He
speculated that piece of road was due to Kaiser’s influence with Reagan, convincing
him this valley was someday going to "be something."
Talking with Chiniaeff, who has just been appointed to serve a
second time on the Temecula Planning Commission, is a fascinating walk through recent
Temecula history. He can explain the partnership between Kaiser Industries and KACOR and
MACCO Construction. He remembers when Rancho California was a Kaiser-Aetna project.
He can tell you Henry Kaiser, who bought the Vail Ranch in 1964 and
then began consolidating other land tracts to eventually put together over 80,000 acres,
envisioned Los Angeles would grow south and San Diego would grow north, and because Camp
Pendleton would cut the growth on the coast in half, the two would "come together at
Temecula."
Now don’t have a heart attack, Rancho California does have a
master plan that will hopefully keep it from becoming the center point of such a
megopolis, or at least a pleasant center point. "I wanted to make a really complete
community," Chiniaeff said – and when he says "I", you get the picture
you are talking to someone who can use that term rightfully.
Hired as Vice President of Land Development for KACOR (Kaiser
Aluminum and Chemical Corporation) on New Year’s Eve 1982, Dennis Chiniaeff’s
job was to bring his interests in urban history, sociology and geography, as well as his
master’s degree in Urban Planning, to bear on the development of Rancho California.
"My job was to prepare for the [15] freeway coming up from San Diego," Chiniaeff
said.
Remarkably, Rancho California had a stretch of 6-8 lanes of freeway
running through the valley, although fed by the smaller highway 395 on both ends.
"Ronald Reagan owned 700 acres up in Tenaja," Chiniaeff remembered. He
speculated that piece of road was due to Kaiser’s influence with Reagan, convincing
him this valley was someday going to "be something."
Talking with Chiniaeff, who has just been appointed to serve a
second time on the Temecula Planning Commission, is a fascinating walk through recent
Temecula history. He can explain the partnership between Kaiser Industries and KACOR and
MACCO Construction. He remembers when Rancho California was a Kaiser-Aetna project.
He can tell you Henry Kaiser, who bought the Vail Ranch in 1964 and
then began consolidating other land tracts to eventually put together over 80,000 acres,
envisioned Los Angeles would grow south and San Diego would grow north, and because Camp
Pendleton would cut the growth on the coast in half, the two would "come together at
Temecula."
Now don’t have a heart attack, Rancho California does have a
master plan that will hopefully keep it from becoming the center point of such a
megopolis, or at least a pleasant center point. "I wanted to make a really complete
community," Chiniaeff said – and when he says "I", you get the picture
you are talking to someone who can use that term rightfully.