Lake Elsinore's 320-Acre Expansion To Include Some Medium-Density Housing

Tuesday night the Lake Elsinore City Council voted not to accept that only low-density housing be built next to rural estates as part of the city’s 320-acre 3rd Street Annexation project.

Council members voted 5-0 to approve pre-zoning for the 3rd Street Annexation project as recommended by the Planning Commission last month, with one change: zoning for an 11-and-a-half acre area inside the project area bordered by Cambern Avenue to the west was changed by council members from low-density to medium-density residential (see attached map).

During the March 20 Planning Commission meeting, staff had recommended that commissioners approve the 11-and-a-half-acre area for medium- and high-density housing. But after hearing from residents who spoke against the more tightly packed residential, the commissioners were swayed last month to drop the zoning to low density.

During Tuesday's meeting, council members Bob Magee, Melissa Melendez and Daryl Hickman voiced their support for changing the zoning back to staff's earlier recommendation.

“I don’t think R-1 makes sense there,” Melendez said. According to Lake Elsinore Municipal Code, R-1 is the abbreviated term for low-density residential.

“I can’t support high-density residential,” Magee said. “I would be willing to support medium density.”

During Tuesday’s meeting, five people from the community addressed council on the proposed project; two of them spoke in favor of changing the 11-and-a-half acre R-1 designation at Cambern Avenue and 3rd Street to medium density.

Other concerns were also expressed. Mary Venerable owns property in the proposed annexation area and said she and her family have used the rural plot for various pursuits like raising cows and horses. Under the proposed annexation, her rural designation would be grandfathered in and she urged the city to honor the clause.

Longtime Lake Elsinore resident Mike Matthews said he has been living in the project area since the mid 1980s. He said the medium- and high-density residential is not a good fit for the area.

With only one resident speaking against the higher density, however, council members moved to override the planning commission’s recommendation.

The 3rd Street Annexation, if approved by the county, will see Lake Elsinore expand by 320 acres. The proposed annexation area is bordered by SR 74 to the north and Interstate 15 to the west (see attached map).

Tuesday's meeting was a requirement of annexation: In order for the project to move forward, the city must first adopt a “pre-annexation zone change." Several years ago, 75 acres of the 320 were zoned for residential and some open space as part of the Ramsgate Specific Plan; Tuesday's meeting confirmed zoning for the remaining 245 acres.

to read more about the 3rd Street Annexation and the “pre-zoning” process.

The 3rd Street Annexation has been a long time in the works, but had been put on hold pending approval of the city’s General Plan in December.