Wrangling Over $20 Million Expected To Continue Tuesday In Lake Elsinore

UPDATE: On March 26, the Lake Elsinore City Council denied the restated developer agreement. Click here for the story.

Facing risk of litigation, Lake Elsinore city staff is recommending that a proposed 400-acre development at the corner of Lake Street and Nichols Road be held up for now due to concerns over $20 million in fees.

The discussion is scheduled to be hashed out during Tuesday night’s Lake Elsinore City Council meeting.

The project has a long history. The project applicant, Castle & Cooke, has proposed more than 1,000 homes, two commercial centers, two parks, a possible new school and fire station for the area. I With their vote, the commissioners recommended that Lake Elsinore City Council approve a vesting tentative tract map for the development called the “Alberhill Ridge Project” and they agreed to recommend council also restate a development agreement between Castle & Cooke and the City of Lake Elsinore.

Plans by Castle & Cooke to develop the land have been on the table for nearly 22 years: An original development agreement was signed by the city and Castle & Cooke in 1990. At the time, the proposed development was grander in scale, including more homes and additional commercial space over a much larger land mass.

However, 600 acres of the original 998-acre plan were subsequently sold to the County of Riverside to be set aside as open space under the Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan.

At the time of the October 2012 vote by the Lake Elsinore Planning Commission, Commissioner Michael O’Neal expressed concern about a lack of Transportation Uniform Mitigation Fees (TUMF) generated by the project. Under the restated development agreement, Lake Elsinore City Attorney Barbara Leibold said the developer would be exempt from paying approximately $20 million in TUMF because the fees were not required back in 1990 when the original development agreement was signed.

TUMF fees are assessed on developers for the purpose of building and upgrading regional roadways.

The Western Riverside Council of Governments was updated on the recommendation to restate the developer agreement minus the $20 million in fees, and in response sent a letter of opposition on Dec. 11 to the city. The letter pointed out that the city could be violating its own ordinances regarding TUMF and argued that the city has every right to demand the fees.

Castle & Cooke disagrees, saying the development was delayed due to the 600-acre land transfer to the county.

Last December city council took the planning commission's recommendation to approve the vesting tentative tract map, but council members stopped short of restating the development agreement. Without the agreement, Castle & Cooke cannot move forward on the project.

Tuesday night’s meeting will include a public hearing on the matter.

The meeting is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. in the boardroom of the Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District located at 31315 Chaney Street. Click here for more information.