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2020-09-16 City Council Item No. 10.6 Public Comment - Wide Regular MEETING - Additional Meeting Materials September 16, 2020 Menifee City Council 29844 Haun Road Menifee, CA 92586 RE: SEPTEMBER 16, 2020 MENIFEE CITY COUNCIL MEETING – AGENDA ITEM 10.6. – TRACT 32102 AND 32102-1 (MENIFEE VILLAGE) COMMUNITY FACILITIES DISTRICT – AGENCY RESPONSE Dear Menifee City Council: Valley-Wide Recreation and Park District (“Valley-Wide”) has reviewed the staff report for Item No. 10.6. on the Menifee City Council’s September 16, 2020 meeting agenda pertaining to the above referenced Project. Our agency strongly opposes approval of this item by the City of Menifee (“City”) City Council as it is proposed. Valley-Wide remains the primary recreation and parks entity, east of the 215 Freeway; therefore, we strongly believe that it is in the best interest of the community and residents in this area for the City to impose the following conditions to address the impacts of the Project on parks, recreation, and open-space, and to ensure that the City complies with the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA): 1. The project shall annex into Valley-Wide Menifee Parks Community Facilities District for landscape maintenance of all parkways, parks, detention basins, and other open-space lots located with Valley-Wide’s boundaries. 2. All landscape areas, including parks, shall be constructed per Valley-Wide standards, and all areas of proposed landscape maintenance shall be identified as a numbered or letter lot. Each of these lots shall be either dedicated in fee to Valley-Wide or made subject to an easement to Valley-Wide for open-space landscape maintenance. 3. A Preliminary Maintenance Exhibit (PME) shall be reviewed and approved by Valley-Wide. 4. A Preliminary Park Concept (PPC) shall be reviewed and approved by Valley-Wide. 5. Prior to map recordation, a park agreement for construction of parks and/or in-lieu fees between the developer and Valley-Wide shall be executed. Tract 32102, -1 September 16, 2020 Page 2 Valley-Wide, not the City of Menifee, maintains and operates most of the existing nearby parks and recreational facilities that will serve the project. This includes the 26-acre Valley-Wide Menifee Community Center and Wheatfield Park, 1.8 miles southwest of the project; the 16-acre Lago Vista Sports Park, 2.4 miles south of the project; and 22 other parks and recreation facilities in the Menifee area, east of the 215 Freeway, all within eight miles of the project. In contrast, the nearest City of Menifee park is the 10-acre Centennial Park which lies approximately 3.5 miles away. Any park-related in-lieu fees must be paid to whomever operates the financing district and provides parks and recreational services in the vicinity that would most be impacted by the increase in population from this Project – in other words, they must be paid to Valley-Wide. The City unilaterally began to provide landscaping and park services within its territory and has created confusion regarding who is responsible for a specific improvement. There are already Valley-Wide-annexed projects contiguous to this Project (illustration attached) where active parklands and other facilities and infrastructure will be impacted by this development. These contiguous annexations already contribute to the maintenance and operations of the surrounding parks and recreational facilities referenced in the above paragraphs, including Tract 32102 which is already annexed into the Menifee Parks Original Zone 88-1. Again, on CEQA, Quimby Act, and other grounds, we strongly oppose any action that the City takes regarding this Project’s Community Facilities District until the City of Menifee works with Valley- Wide to address the issues raised herein. Please contact our office at (951) 654-1505 to discuss our concerns further. Sincerely, ___________________________________ James Salvador, Special Districts Supervisor Valley-Wide Recreation and Park District Enclosure: Contiguous Valley-Wide Annexations Exhibit My Map 0.3mi Contiguous Valley-Wide Annexations Exhibit