Commission to Weigh Islamic Center Permit, New Home Development

A conditional use permit for an existing place of worship and a lot-size variance for a new home development are on the Murrieta Planning Commission’s agenda for Wednesday.

The Commission’s regularly scheduled meeting would have fallen on the Dec. 25 holiday, so the items were moved up to a special meeting called for this week. Commissioners are scheduled to meet at 6 p.m. Wednesday at City Hall, One Town Square.

Conditional Use Permit

The Islamic Center of Temecula Valley has been leasing warehouse space at 26820 Hobie Circle, Suite A—between Date Street and Auto Mall Parkway—for more than two years while it awaits the completion of its mosque under construction on Nicolas Road in Temecula.

Reached Tuesday, City Planner Cynthia Kinser said a conditional use permit is required for that type of assembly in an industrial area. The city has been working with ICTV officials to achieve the terms of that since they began occupying the space, she said.

“They have been under code enforcement action to get in and get up to code,” Kinser said. “It has taken a while but we are finally there.”

The terms included an evaluation of parking accommodations and building code issues, as the space was designed for industrial warehouse use.

City staff is recommending approval of the permit, conditions of which include minor tenant improvements to make the space safer and more suitable for use as a place of worship; and an agreement to use parking spaces allotted to a neighboring building during their peak attendance for a weekly Friday afternoon prayer service.

“We have been working with them throughout this time, meeting with them quite regularly. We make sure they at least they have safe operating conditions,” Kinser said.

“They appear to have been a good neighbor; we haven’t had any complaints. At the end of the day, we want everyone to enjoy their business whatever it is.”

It is the city’s impression, Kinser said, that ICTV plans to occupy the space for at least another six months until its Temecula facility is ready.

Lot-size Variance

Commissioners will also be asked to weigh a variance sought for a condominium-style development of 54 single-family homes on 6.6 acres off of Sugarberry Lane, west of Margarita Road near the Jackson Avenue-Warm Springs Creek area.

The Marker Company is seeking a zoning variance that would allow it to develop the homes on minimum lot sizes, because due to a regional environmental requirement, 11.8 acres of the 19.2-acre must be conserved as habitat for the Los Angeles pocket mouse. 

According to Western Riverside County Regional Conservation Authority's "Los Angeles Pocket Mouse Survey Report 2010" that was updated in February 2012, the species of special concern is monitored due to loss of habitat caused by urban and agricultural development.

Without the recommended variance, which came as a result of talks between the developer and city staff beginning in December 2012, the site could accommodate 33 single-family homes.

A 30-day public review period ended Dec. 5 for the project that is bordered by the Arboretum Condominiums to the south, a vacant single-family home lot to the north, existing single-family homes to the east and commercial parcels to the west.

Documents for both items on Wednesday's Planning Commission agenda can be viewed online by clicking here.