The Riverside County Sheriff announced that officers will be conducting a sobriety checkpoint in Canyon Lake, tomorrow, Friday June 27, from 6:00pm to 3:00am.

Since Railroad Canyon Rd is the only main drag in Canyon Lake, I'm guessing it'll be on that road.

You might want to make sure your car registration and proof of insurance are up to date, and in your car, because they'll check for that too.

Labels: Canyon-Lake

Cutting off your nose to spite your face.

That might be what the City of Canyon Lake is doing with its consideration to approve a development project on top of Goat Hill.

Goat Hill is the hill along Railroad Canyon Rd, at the intersection with Canyon Hills Drive.

Canyon Lake is in dire straits, with only enough cash reserves to last them maybe two more years, until they face a possible bankruptcy. They don't have any land to build out more retail, and the sluggish economy, combined with falling property values and foreclosures, have put the tiny city into desperate times.



And so, comes this idea to mortgage off one of its natural landmarks, slicing off the top, grading it, and terracing it, to build some luxury homes and commercial centers.

This operation will take place over three years. As the Press Enterprise reported last month...

The excavation and grading would result in more than 3 million cubic yards of granite fill being hauled from the site.

Loader trucks would make 300 round trips a day on the city's main thoroughfare, Railroad Canyon Road, to haul the fill to a yet undetermined location. The traffic would be equivalent to an additional 900 daily car trips on the road, according to the initial environmental study.

And where to do they plan to dump this dirt? I hope not in Menifee!

Linda Freeman writes to The Friday Flyer, pointing out that this three-year excavation project will make it tough for homeowners to sell their properties, causing further declines in values...

If this project is approved, will all potential home sellers have to disclose that the hill that is visible and aesthetically pleasing today will be degraded in three years time? Will sellers have to disclose that a rock quarry is operating five to six days a week with on going explosives and a rock crushing plant that makes noise five to six days a week in a residential neighborhood?

Once the project is completed in three years, will it provide enough tax revenues to save the City of Canyon Lake? Will Canyon Lake already be in bankruptcy before the project is complete?

Or, is the city about to cut off its nose to spite its face?

Labels: Canyon-Lake

Watch out as you drive down Railroad Canyon Road the next few weeks.

The Canyon Lake Police Department announced yesterday that beginning this Monday, May 12, through Sunday, June 1, they're going to look carefully for drivers not wearing their seatbelts.

Sergeant Todd Kelly, of the Riverside County Sheriff Department, whom the City of Canyon Lake contracts with, says there will be no warnings issued, everyone will get ticketed...

"We want to make sure that all drivers and passengers buckle up on every ride, day and night. Our officers will be on the lookout for those who are not buckled up and for teens and children not riding while properly restrained. We will not accept excuses or give warnings. It's Click It or Ticket."

Tickets for first seat belt violations range from $80 to $91 for adults and $330 to $401 for children under age 16.

Labels: Canyon-Lake

The Friday Flyer, a newspaper that serves Canyon Lake, published an eye-opening report in its pages today, basically saying, "I told you so", in regards to creating a sphere of influence decades ago...

Seventeen years ago, when the fledgling city of Canyon Lake was undertaking a mandated sphere of influence study, Jeff Butzlaff, then City Manager, was quoted in The Friday Flyer as saying, "We never want to be placed in the position of having to say someday "Oh, if we'd only known" or "If we hadn't been so short-sighted."

It seems that day has come, and the current City Council is bemoaning the fact that its counterpart in 1991 voted against establishing a sphere of influence outside its original boundaries.

Here's a link to the report...
http://www.thefridayflyer.com/FF-2008-3-28/FFS-8978.htm

It wouldn't be an issue if not for the fact that the City of Canyon Lake is having financial problems. Basically, the city is built out. The only place it could possibly expand is northward towards Hwy 74, and into the unincorporated area of Meadowbrook.

Meadowbrook is the community that sits on Hwy 74 between Perris and Lake Elsinore. It's a place known for its boulders, mobile homes, farm animals and meth labs. There is already committee of Meadowbrook residents trying to fight an annexation bid by Canyon Lake.

Obviously Canyon Lake doesn't want Meadowbrook residents in its borders, they just want the land to build some tax-generating commercial centers.

Canyon Lake's financial woes is largely due to the fact that they can't expand to build commercial development. They don't have any land to do so, and hence why they are now haunted by the decision not to create a sphere of influence.

A "sphere of influence" is an area of land adjacent to a city, but not actually incorporated into the city. It gives the city a way of saying, "We don't need this land right now, but we might need it someday, so we want to prevent other cities from having it".

Another reason why Canyon Lake is having financial problems is the same old foreclosure phenomenon and general weak economy. They don't even have enough money to maintain Railroad Canyon Rd, asking private organizations to come in and do volunteer cleanup.

The new Countryside Marketplace under construction in Menifee will also hurt Canyon Lake. It'll give their residents more reasons to spend their dollars outside of the city's boundaries, and at the same time, fewer Menifee residents will bother going to Pepe's for dinner.

Last year, I opined in an article here on Menifee 24/7 that Canyon Lake may very well find itself being annexed into Menifee. If the new City of Menifee is successful in building up a lucrative tax base, and assuming Canyon Lake continues to get squeezed into suffocation, Canyon Lakers may run out of options and sell out to Menifee or Lake Elsinore.

Labels: Canyon-Lake

The Friday Flyer asked its readers an interesting question today, "What Will Canyon Lake Look Like 50 Years From Now?"

Here's a link to the article...
http://www.thefridayflyer.com/FF-2007-5-18/FFS-6811.htm

Canyon Lake is in an unusual predicament. Almost all of its tax base is confined to an area surrounding the lake, and this almost all homes. The city does have some retail and business, but tax revenue coming from those channels is so small, it can only pay for infrastructure.

In other words, Canyon Lake has nowhere to expand, no way to increase its tax base. It's landlocked, sandwiched between Lake Elsinore, Murrieta, Wildomar, and Menifee Valley.

It could, however, annex the western portion of Menifee Valley, namely Quail Valley, Menifee Hills, and Audie Murphy Ranch. But if Menifee Valley is successful in incorporating as a city, then those hopes are dashed. If Canyon Lake wants to grow its tax base, it'll have to annexed by Menifee Valley or Lake Elsinore.

Or else, it will just have to rely on raising taxes and fees.

Labels: Canyon-Lake

Canyon Lake resident Elinor Martin, whose family ranched in the area of Canyon Lake and Menifee Valley since the late 1800s, has a new book out called, "Images of America: Canyon Lake".

The book also includes some history about Menifee Valley.

Here's what The Friday Flyer has to say about the book...

Elinor writes about "The Early Years" after her grandfather, Henry Evans, moved to the Menifee Valley in 1890, eight years after California Southern Railroad built a line from Perris to Elsinore through what became known as Railroad Canyon. The railroad's first station was at Pinacate St., now the location of the Orange Empire Railway Museum and home to the Perris Valley Historical and Museum Association.

The railroad line was later sold to the Santa Fe Railroad and became part of its transcontinental line. Troubles with flooding beset the railroad almost from the beginning. On February 16, 1927, the railroad experienced its third washout since it was built. Pictures in Elinor’s book show how the bridge washed out from under the tracks at the southern end, where I-15 meets Railroad Canyon Rd.

The book is on sale for $19.99 at the Canyon Lake Market, Pepe's Restaurant and Pack, Wrap and Post.

Labels: Canyon-Lake, History