FW: TheVillageNews: Temecula under fire by (Liberty) quarry owners over annexation plan

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From: <char.ayers@att.net>
Date: Thu, 17 Apr 2008 17:43:44 +0000
To: Charlene Ayers <char.ayers@att.net>
Subject: TheVillageNews: Temecula under fire by (Liberty)  quarry owners over annexation plan

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From: "Karen Gruber" <witchywoman@earthlink.net>
Subject: Temecula under fire by (Liberty) quarry owners over annexation plan
Date: Sun, 13 Apr 2008 22:44:14 +0000


The VIllage News 4/10/08
 
 
Karen Gruber
witchywoman@earthlink.net
 
Temecula under fire by quarry owners over annexation plan
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Local News
Tim O‚Leary
Staff Writer
Thursday, April 10th, 2008.
Issue 15, Volume 12.

Temecula will spend more than $275,000 to annex a 5,000-acre swath of granite-strewn hillsides, a rising cost that has sparked debate over the lone development plan in the rugged area at the city‚s southern doorstep.

„I think whatever they spend is an inappropriate expenditure,‰ said Gary Johnson, aggregate resource development manager for Granite Construction Co., which hopes to develop part of a 414-acre tract as a surface mine at the core of the proposed annexation area. „The revenues are not there and I fail to see the benefit.‰

He called the proposed Santa Margarita Canyon annexation „a blatant attempt‰ by the city to thwart the Liberty Quarry mine plan.

Annexation proponents ˆ Temecula officials and an anti-mine group ˆ are quick to counter Johnson‚s views and defend the expenditures that would expand the city‚s boundary and make zoning changes aimed at halting the quarry proposal for at least two years.

„It sure makes sense to me,‰ responded Kathleen Hamilton, a founder of the Save Our Southwest Hills watchdog group, which opposes the mine plan. „It‚s the hills [city officials] want to protect. If they don‚t annex it, who knows what will happen?‰

The debate escalated last month when Johnson wrote a letter to the Village News that questioned the annexation spending and the projected costs to provide police, fire and other municipal services in the sprawling area.

He elaborated on those views in a subsequent interview.

Mine foes were quick to respond with letters and a telephone interview.

Mayor Mike Naggar also defended the city‚s spending measures and annexation goals in a recent e-mail, saying they are justified because the steps would enhance Temecula‚s open space and trail acquisition efforts.

If approved, the proposed Santa Margarita Canyon annexation would add approximately seven square miles to the city‚s current 30-square-mile perimeter.

A key point of debate is whether the city would eventually reap surplus revenues from the proposed annexation, which would require approval from a Riverside County boundary-setting agency.

An environmental impact report has been prepared in a series of steps prefacing annexation hearings by the City Council and the county Local Agency Formation Commission.

City records show that Temecula has already spent about $263,000 on the environmental impact documents, attorney fees, engineering fees, an economic analysis and other reports and consultant services.

LAFCO typically charges $13,800 to process an application to annex a tract that is the size of the Santa Margarita Canyon proposal, according to that agency‚s materials.

That work, plus a previous annexation study and an ongoing open space analysis, have pushed the city‚s spending on these efforts up to about $400,000.

Those expenses would be in addition to the $500,000 that the Temecula City Council set aside more than a year ago to fight the mine plan in court if needed.

A fiscal analysis of the Santa Margarita Canyon annexation has interjected some uncertainty into the process.

The report, done last June by a Los Angeles consultant, said Temecula would eventually reap nearly $186,000 a year in surplus revenues from that proposed annexation.

But the fiscal analysis notes that budget surplus would occur after 62 new homes are built in the area that currently contains six residences.

That level of development would be allowed under the residential zoning designation to be put in place if the annexation is approved.

The proposed zoning patterns, which also would block the development of a mine in the area, would need to remain in place for at least two years if the annexation is approved, said George J. Spiliotis, LAFCO executive officer.

The consultant‚s fiscal report leaves some unanswered questions because it fails to predict when those 62 homes might be built given the current housing slump and the undermined costs to improve roads and provide water and septic services to that steep, rugged area.

Johnson has also criticized the city for pushing ahead with the proposed Santa Margarita Canyon annexation while holding off on adding surrounding areas that have been the focus of separate annexation studies.

In August, the council discussed a $42,000 study that examined the possibility of Temecula someday adding an additional 20 square miles to its existing boundary.

That report did not examine the proposed Santa Margarita Canyon annexation, which has been studied separately.

The council did not take any action on that study in August.

One of the areas examined then is the escarpment west of Temecula that is bisected by Rancho California Road.

That area is currently the focus of another study, which is now being done by a pair of consulting groups.

The council agreed to pay the Riverside Land Conservancy and the Dangermond Group up to $83,600 to do a separate study seeking ways to acquire open space in the escarpment area.

The contract between the city and the consultants called for that study to be completed last month, but the agreement said an extension would be authorized if all sides agreed.

City officials said last week that study documents are still in draft form and not currently available for public review.

Johnson noted that the city has overlooked home construction on the escarpment as it focuses on annexing land to the south of the city that is primarily within the Santa Margarita Ecological Reserve.

Hamilton and other mine foes reject those assertions and support Temecula‚s step-by-step approach, saying it is wise to first protect the city‚s southern doorstep and then shift its attention to its western ridges.

„Why not start there?‰ Hamilton said in an interview. „I‚d say it‚s the first part of the scenario.‰




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