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Published Sunday, January 6, 2002

The first "town hall" meeting of the new year, conducted by the Murieta Holdings developers, officially ran three minutes. After developer Gerry N. Kamilos said nothing new had transpired since the December meeting, he asked for questions from the audience of three residents, received none, and wrapped up the session.

'Town hall' audio problems Updated Monday, January 14, 2002 The audio problem affecting December's "town hall" meeting broadcast on Channel 5 can't be corrected, according to Doug Mack, RMA communications manager. He said the same problem affected January's taping and neither will be broadcast.

Then, for almost an hour, Kamilos and Robert J. Cassano answered questions from the camera-shy residents and provided new information about plans to rebuild the North Gate, a marketing plan for the community and the possibility of an additional gate at Escuela Drive and Stonehouse Road.

With Cassano seated at a long table and Kamilos perched on the table's edge, it was the most casual and conversational exchange in the 13-month history of the sessions and took the "meeting after the meeting" phenomenon a step further: This was the meeting that replaced the meeting.

As the developers observed, the after-taping conversations could be considered a bonus for residents who attend the meetings. Attendance, which began with a standing-room-only crowd, has dwindled to a handful most recent meetings.

Here are some of the issues discussed Thursday after the cameras were turned off:

Rebuilding the North Gate
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The North Gate redesign is part of the developers' business plan for the upscale development they envision for Murieta North.

At this time last year, the Community Services District was working with the developers to put the new entrance and guard station on the fast track. The CSD proposed advancing $750,000 to the developers to fund safety- and security-related aspects of the project.

The aggressive timetable was scrapped when the CSD, developers and the Pension Trust Fund of the Operating Engineers, the owner of the land being developed by Murieta Holdings, couldn't reach agreement on repayment terms.

Cassano said the timeframe for the project is now "tied to the sale of 500 lots or four main subdivisions." He pointed out that two subdivisions on the South have already been sold. The Crest and the Greens were purchased in late 2001 by South developer Reynen & Bardis.

Two other subdivisions, The Residences of Murieta Hills and The Retreat properties, are in the planning approval process. They were submitted to the planning department in February. Public hearings on the projects are expected to begin this spring, according to Kamilos.

The Retreat properties will be purchased and built by Murieta Holdings. The Murieta Hills subdivision is expected to be developed by two builders of high-end production homes, according to the developers.

Under the terms of the development agreement being negotiated by the RMA, PTF and Murieta Holdings, the developers will place $1.4 million in escrow "to make sure the money is there" to complete the rebuilding of the gate and to make landscaping improvements along Highway 16, Cassano said.

The developers plan to complete the design work this year in preparation for rebuilding the gate "probably in 2003," he said.

The developers envision "a traditional design" and will seek input from the RMA, CSD and the community. No designer has been selected for the project.

The budget and a time line for the project are possible topics for next month's "town hall" meeting, Cassano said.

Marketing the community

Murieta Holdings is meeting with prospective marketing companies "to rebrand the community," Cassano said.

Kamilos said the developers believe the community has suffered from a "lack of coordinated effort" to promote it. Kamilos said the developers are looking for "a high quality, credible program" emphasizing lifestyle "to make the market aware of the community."

This, the developers said, would benefit existing homeowners by increasing property values and Murieta Holdings by attracting buyers for the new development.

An audience member asked if the Joaquin Murieta logo -- "The cowboy on the horse" -- will be abandoned. Kamilos said the rebranding was not expected to replace the community's namesake.

Gate on Stonehouse Road

Kamilos said the results of traffic studies done in the community show, "Our projects would not trigger a gate on Stonehouse. … Technically, (the gate) is not required as a condition of development."

Kamilos said the developers' traffic study will be submitted to the county planning department in the next few days. The study has not been made public.

The preliminary version of a traffic study the RMA and CSD jointly commissioned was made public and can be viewed here. Kamilos says the developers' version is not substantially different.

Murieta Hills, a 240-unit development now going through the county approval process, is in the northwest section of the community, bounded by Stonehouse Road and Escuela, Puerto and Guadalupe drives.

The RMA/CSD traffic study showed Guadalupe and Puerto drives and Murieta Parkway would be adversely impacted by traffic increases without a gate at Escuela and Stonehouse. With the third gate, and no effort to steer some traffic down Murieta Parkway, stretches of Guadalupe, Puerto and Pera would be subject to heavy use.

The county has acknowledged that Escuela Drive was approved as an entrance to the community as part of the county ordinance for Unit 1. This means the RMA would not have to make improvements, estimated to cost $2 million to $3 million, to Stonehouse Road in order to put in the gate.

"If the RMA chooses to put a gate there, then we would be willing to participate financially," Kamilos said.

Community center and aquatic complex

When the development agreement is signed, the community's parks will be deeded by the PTF to the RMA.

At that time, the RMA will swap a piece of park land at the end of Murieta Parkway for property behind the RMA Building. This property, which was approved for high-density housing, will instead become the site of the community center and aquatic complex. The Parkway site will become a part of The Terrace, a Murieta Holdings subdivision. The aquatic complex and the community center are part of the master plan for the community's parks. The estimated total cost to construct them is $3.1 million. The money to construct them comes from fees paid by developers and smaller, matching fees paid by members of the RMA. The fees are levied on a per-unit-developed basis. A year ago, the Parks Committee, which has five voting members -- two from the RMA, one from the CSD and two from the development community in Rancho Murieta -- set up a budget and a timeline for the projects in the parks matrix.

The swap of the yellow parcels of land, part of the development agreement with the Rancho Murieta Association, would allow the community center to be built just inside the North Gate. Part of that site would be developed with homes too.

According to that schedule, funds would be available to build the pool and the community center, beginning in 2003 with the pool and finishing with the community center in 2005. The pool was first because it is less expensive to build and operate. It's expected fees would be charged to offset its operating costs.

The parks projects are funded through the Parks Fund, but they are maintained by the RMA with revenue from dues.

The scheduling and budgeting done last year was based on a funding mechanism that has changed.

According to the original draft of the development agreement, Murieta Holdings would guarantee the payment of parks fees for 200 units a year, even if fewer units were built.

This was designed to speed up the accumulation of money in the Parks Fund in the early years of the development. The developers estimate build-out of the community will take 10 years.

The funding arrangement has been changed in later versions of the development agreement. In the version now being negotiated, parks fees would be paid when the tentative map for a subdivision records, Kamilos explained.

The Parks Committee will reconsider the timetable for projects at its March meeting.

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