2020-12-02 City Council Item No. 4.1 Public Comment - Black Special MEETING - Additional Meeting Materials1
Emily Grisenti
From:Charles Black <cblack@leetemecula.com>
Sent:Wednesday, December 2, 2020 4:34 PM
To:Public Comments
Subject:Comments RE: Special Joint Workshop Agenda - General Plan Land Use Vision
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A lack of LOCAL quality jobs is the city’s most important priority.
Pre‐covid, the retail sector overall has been struggling due to the Amazon effect. Menifee’s strong residential
development continued the need for more retail to service the new residents. COVID has obviously hammered the
retail sector. While retail generate significant tax $’s for the city, most retail jobs are low paying. A high % of retail jobs
only pay minimum wage. Moreover, many of retail jobs are part time and does not offer health insurance or other
benefits to employees. These retail jobs will not meet the income needs of a typical Menifee homeowner.
Meyers office demand report is not very encouraging. The study indicates that only 80,000 sq. ft. is currently needed.
80,000 sq. ft., assuming 100% occupancy, will likely not produce more than 500 total jobs.
While the Logistics / Warehouse Distribution is a much needed sector for Menifee, it won’t completely fulfill the city’s
need for high paying jobs. Logistics – warehouse salaries are on the lower end of the spectrum. Warehouse –
distribution is highly automated with a low ratio of workers vs. building sq. ft.
Typically, manufacturing provides jobs create more and higher paying jobs vs. warehouse – distribution. However,
California is not a popular destination among manufacturers. Cost of living, heavy governmental regulation, workers’
comp, etc. put California at a disadvantage vs. other more business ‐friendly states such as Nevada, Arizona, Texas and
the Southeast part of the country. To illustrate this point, when is the last time that an auto manufacturer selected
California as the location for their next factory? Same goes for TESLA’s battery manufacturing and countless others who
still manufacture in the States? Realistically, the only manufacturing businesses are smaller, locally owned
businesses. The potential for new manufacturing jobs – similar to office and retail – can’t create the # of quality jobs
needed in Menifee.
I have been curious why the city of Menifee has openly opposed construction related business? Construction ‐related
businesses are growing. Construction jobs pay enough to support a Menifee homeowner. Plumbers, air conditioning,
drywall, insulation, engineering, grading, and other commercial contractors are NOT welcome in the city. Not only are
they not welcome, but the city seems to be committed to removing those existing commercial contractors who have
been located in the area even prior to the city’s incorporation.
I’ve never understood why the city fails to support the construction sector. The only thing I can think of is that many of
these businesses may require outside storage. And – for some reason – “outside storage” is a 4 letter word to the city of
Menifee.
The commercial development community will show you what type of industrial product is needed. City of Menifee is
NOT viewed positively by industrial developers. They get the impression that the city wants quality jobs, but the city is
afraid or unwilling to approve the types of businesses that provide these jobs. The city is OVER THINKING the industrial
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general plan. The city seems so concerned that they may make a mistake by approving an industrial development. So in
order to avoid making a mistake, the easiest way is to deny anything that doesn’t exactly fit into the city’s pre‐defined
box.
Let the market guide you. I’m not saying you need to approve any and every development, but you need to allow the
local landowners enough freedom and ability to meet the market demand. We can approve industrial buildings without
creating an eyesore.
Charley Black, SIOR
Senior Vice President
Lee & Associates | Temecula Valley
D 951.445.4507
O 951.445.4500
C 951.326.0866
cblack@leetemecula.com
CLICK HERE TO VIEW MY PROFILE & LISTINGS
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