With the Temecula Planning Commission’s 4-0 vote against the
Wolf Creek housing project and the City Council’s 4-1 vote against the Temecula Ridge
apartment complex, the city is putting some teeth behind its growth management plan. The
strength of that new direction will be tested again as the Wolf Creek project comes up for
City Council approval.
Both projects are the type that sailed through both chambers even
six months ago. Both are within general plan limits of housing density, but not within
preferences set by the city council last March in an effort to stave off calls for a
building moratorium.
Temecula Ridge apartments included garages, an amenity in short
supply for local renters, and a 25-meter pool open to local swim clubs.It also met an
important goal of filling an undeveloped island, surrounded by other developments within
the city. However, none of this was enough to convince the majority of the council to
overlook the project’s density only fractions below the maximum zoned.
Wolf Creek, on the other hand, located on 557 acres off Pala Road,
has gone through a series of density lowering proposals in its three recent appearances
before the Planning Commission. The project began at 2144 homes, was lowered to 2022
homes, and now includes a further suggested reduction to 1889 homes if a senior citizen
complex iseliminated in favor of small, courtyard homes. At 1889 homes, the project meets
growth management targets. Because of its size, Wolf Creek stands to define whether
Temecula will exist on managed growth or move to a no-growth stance.
The project has engendered great local interest and concern since
its introduction, when 175 people tried to pack into a Temecula Creek Inn conference room
back in August of 1999. In December of 1999, neighbors petitioned to kill the project
outright.
Recent Planning Commission meetings also played to large audiences.
Concerns about traffic are coupled with small lot sizes, commercial zones and unvaried
housing plans, all of which the Planning Commission sought to address.
Although zoning is in place that would allow Spring Pacific
Properties of Irvine to bring projects in on a piecemeal basis, according to Temecula City
Manager Shawn Nelson, both the city and the developer benefit from a specific plan
approach. The city benefits from the chance to look at parks, schools, fire stations and
other factors of a large project, providing an integrated approach; and the developer
benefits because once specific approval is gained, the project can continue on as a whole
instead of going through the process one builder at a time.
As long as people sit in traffic along Highway 79 South and Pala
Road, growth management is going to be an issue. The recent actions of the Planning
Commission and City Council to support growth targets bring a new challenge to developers.
Absent a commitment to buy the 557 acres at current market value and keep it open,
preventing development as was recently done in French Valley with Johnson Ranch, Temecula
will do well to keep grinding out the details.