County may appoint panel to write rules

By: DAVE DOWNEY - Staff Writer | Saturday, August 21, 2004 8:56 PM PDT ∞

In a step toward preserving what is left of the scenic, dark-green, chaparral-covered hills west of Temecula and Murrieta, a county planning official Friday proposed forming a committee from a cross-section of community interests to write new rules for building on the steep slopes of Southwest County.

Planning Director Robert Johnson, in a memo to the Riverside County Board of Supervisors, recommended that the board establish a committee composed of representatives from the county, cities of Temecula and Murrieta, Building Industry Association of Southern California and area property owners.

Johnson suggested giving the panel three months to come up with concrete ideas for guidelines for building on the Santa Rosa Escarpment, which is one of Southwest County's dominant features. The hillside runs parallel to, and west of, Interstate 15 from Temecula to Wildomar.

The board is scheduled to take up the matter Tuesday.

The proposal is in response to Supervisor Bob Buster's call earlier this summer to crack down on excess grading and set new ground rules for projects along the highly visible ridge. That was after a local citizens group, Save the Southwest Hills, was formed to focus community attention on fresh development scars that appeared over the spring and summer for grading for million-dollar, ridgetop homes.

Jim Clements of De Luz, a member of the new group, called the county's proposal "a great idea."

Clements said the group's campaign to preserve Southwest County residents' scenic view is also advancing on other fronts. While declining to name the person, he said the group is talking with a landowner who has expressed an interest in selling 100 acres along the escarpment for a preserve.

"That's kind of a start," said group member Al Rattan. "If there's one, there could be more."

Meanwhile, Rattan said he has been talking to local home builders who are inclined to support the group's cause. Clements said builders realize that preservation of a regional amenity would benefit them because it would hold up ---- and even increase ---- property values.

"We've kind of stirred up a hornet's nest," Clements said.

While the proposed community committee would be free to come up with its own recommendations, Johnson suggested some guidelines.

A big one would be to require builders to conduct environmental assessments before they grade parcels having slopes of 15 percent or greater. And while the focus would be on Southwest County, Johnson said he would like for the panel to also study whether the requirement for environmental study should be extended to all such steep slopes across the sprawling, 7,000-square-mile Riverside County.

The committee also would be asked to study grading, filling and lighting requirements, as well as ridgeline treatments that could make developments blend in with the natural topography.

And the panel would examine ways to acquire lands and permanently preserve open space.

Contact staff writer Dave Downey at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2616, or ddowney@californian.com.

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