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::: COMMUNITY NEWS
These are some of the gate design ideas that will serve as inspiration for the design of the new North Gate. (Click photo for larger image.) 'Town hall' meeting offers first look at inspirations for new North Gate • Pop-up window: Click here for archive of development coverage -- news, maps, photos and more Published Thursday, February 7, 2002 Thursday night's monthly "town hall" meeting with the Murieta Holdings developers yielded the first suggestions of what the redesigned North Gate might look like. Developer Robert J. Cassano displayed 20 photos of gate design elements culled from a trip to Southern California a year ago with members of the Rancho Murieta Association and Community Services District. SLIDE SHOW: Click to see photos that are serving as inspiration for the new North Gate. Cassano called the photos ideas or models, and said, "As we move forward we'll have a lot more detail to show you." He said the community would have a chance to provide input. The photos' entry features -- what Cassano called "monumentation" -- offered stone towers, about two stories tall, softened with plantings, multipane windows on the towers and trellises for the auto lanes. One tower incorporated a stylized logo, which Cassano described as "very elegant looking." Asked about placing a water feature at the entrance, Cassano said it's possible, but "a landmark tower might be more desirable." He pointed out that the South has water features at its entrance, and it might be good to vary the two designs. He said the developers have budgeted more than $1 million for work at the gate, and he expects to have his architect hired in the next 30 days. Cassano said, "We'll be talking about this (gate) probably for a long time." The gate design photos are available at the Rancho Murieta Association building. Above is a link to an online slide show of the photos. One piece of the presentation is a map of the planned location for the new North Gate. The map, released 15 months ago, can be seen here. After months of poorly attended meetings -- turnouts of two or three residents -- Thursday night's half-hour session drew an audience of nine despite stormy weather. Cassano hosted the meeting by himself because co-developer Gerry N. Kamilos had a family obligation. Cassano called recent months "a planning lull" and added, "That's about to change." Some of his progress reports on other aspects of the development: Commercial development: He said they're finalizing the contract for development of the commercial site, a huge parcel of land behind the Country Store and across from Murieta Plaza. "The developer that's looking at that has an immediate plan to develop about 10 acres of that for retail use," Cassano said. "There's an awful lot of other acreage and he's trying to figure out what to do with that." Asked what type of commerce would operate on the 10 acres, Cassano said, ""They've talked about a major national drug operator and a major food outlet." He said the deal will probably be ready to go into escrow in the next month, and once it does, the developers will be asked to bring their plan forward for community input. Development agreement: Negotiations are about concluded with the Rancho Murieta Association on the development agreement, Cassano said. "The attorneys have it in their hands now," he said. "I should be optimistic it will come out soon. … We're very close to finalizing that." Murieta Hills: Two builders are in final contract negotiations to buy lots for the development, at the northwest end of Rancho Murieta North. "I would imagine by the April meeting we should have the builders here to talk about their plans," Cassano said. The Retreat developments: "Those escrows should close probably in August or September of this year," Cassano said. "More than likely, most of the ground moving wouldn't occur until this time next year, unless it's a dry winter." He expects there would be model homes by summer 2003. The Retreat developments are scattered around the North golf course. Murieta Holdings will build these homes, which are targeted at affluent empty nesters and retirees. The Vineyard project around Lake Calero: Cassano projected community input would be gathered in 2003 and the project would kick off in 2004.
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