Murrieta Group Won't Stop in Quest for Property Rights

Steven and Joyce Dodd have owned 20 acres of land in the Los Alamos Hills area of Murrieta for 11 years. The couple runs a bird rescue, and lives on just a portion of the land. When they bought the land in 1999, their plan was to subdivide the rest, paving the way for their retirement.

Joyce Dodd said all that changed when they learned that in 2003--four years after they purchased their property--the City of Murrieta agreed to become part of the Western Riverside County Conservation Authority’s (WRCCA) Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan (MSHCP). Now they can’t sell the land, but they aren’t being offered any money for it.

Property owners such as the Dodds and others in Los Alamos Hills say about 40 percent of their land has been designated as part of a conservation zone in Murrieta--basically rendering it useless to them. Another 40 percent of the 2,045 acres is in danger of being taken, they said.

The governmental plan was meant to ease federal and state wildlife conservation restrictions on development in cities in Riverside County by setting apart areas and corridors of each city for native species to traverse through and survive in. The benefit to cities is that they don’t need to go through as much red tape to get infrastructure and development projects approved. Through the plan, the City gets allocated monies for transportation projects, as well as benefits from regional transportation projects like the current Interstate 215 widening.

The Dodds were among about 30 residents who gathered at a Citizens for Quality Life in Murrieta (CQLM) meeting Thursday night, where they brainstormed ways to take back their rights as property owners.

“We are in trouble; we’ve got to fight,” said Max Miller, president of CQLM.

MaryAnn Miller, Max’s wife, said some of the property owners date back more than 100 years. “They came to this country because France stole their land,” she said.

"Our emphasis now is to get louder and louder...and it is not just happening here, it is all over the country. There is a huge land grab going on.

"Boy, it takes a lot of enjoyment out when you have to fight tooth and nail to keep your property.”

The group is gathering steam to once again ask the City to include their community as part of its updated General Plan. In addition to the property battle, the area has unpaved roads and is not served by public utilities. Residents are asking that the City agree that the acres already designated as conservation are sufficient. They also want to see infrastructure.

Hardy Strozier, a consultant with The Planning Associates, spoke at the meeting about the undue need for this level of conservation.

“They’ve added more than 100 species to the list,” Strozier said. “Even the common coyote is on the list. Some of the animals may not even be endangered for 100 years.

“MSHCP says it will take 80 percent of Los Alamos Hills. Their idea is to confiscate your land. Do they have the authority? Yes. Can your City Council override that? Yes. In the plan, 90 percent of the authority is given to your City Council.”

Assemblyman Kevin Jeffries, R-Lake Elsinore, also spoke to the group.

“The goal (of the plan) is generally good--to prevent 11 million people from coming in and making it another LA. The problem is when you move down to the implementation, this is a plan that was not well thought out...you have rights and it is the government’s job to protect your rights,” Jeffries said.

Jeffries advised the group to keep at it, but with quiet determination.

“You lose credibility when you start the name-calling. Human nature turns off when you hear that,” Jeffries said, speaking from experience as an elected official.

Murrieta City Councilman Alan Long, who lives in Los Alamos Hills, said he is working with the City to improve its policies regarding MSHCP. Though he said it is in its infancy, one idea is to allow property owners to go directly to City Council for project approval if they are disagreeing with City staff. As it stands now, Long said, it goes from the city planning department to the county’s planning department.

“That to me is a complete reverse of local control. We are a city for a reason,” Long said.

Long told the group they have done an “extraordinary job” keeping after the City, pushing for their rights.

“The Council has heard you. They are sympathetic. It is the plan; a plan is still a plan. We just need to learn to work within it.”

Robert Tyler, a Murrieta attorney who is defending Calvary Chapel of Murrieta against the MSHCP and therefore the City of Murrieta along with the Riverside Conservation Authority, spoke after Long left the meeting.

Calvary Chapel owns 119 acres of land that falls within the conservation land in Murrieta. The church can’t use the land, even for baptisms, Tyler said. After countless go-arounds with the City and County, Tyler said the church decided to enter into a lawsuit for $25 million--the purchase price of the land. Shortly after, WRRCA offered to buy the land at $696,000, but Calvary Chapel did not take the offer.

Tyler is also representing a developer that had plans to subdivide 33 acres off of Los Alamos Road. That land also falls within a conservation area. After biology reports were conducted, Tyler said the City asked for 30 of the 33 acres.

“This is like some sort of communist scheme to take your land from you. It is totally un-American,” Tyler said.

The members of CQLM are placing their hopes on the Fifth Amendment: "...nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation."