Category Archives: City Of Our Dreams

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Economic Development, Environment, Open Government, Safety, Social Capital

RTRP Update

August 21, 2023 admin 3 Comments

Most Current Talking Points

Coalition of Riverside City Council & Norco to underground High Transmission Lines Norco will spend approximately $300,000 to $500,000 in this effort.

Edison is engaging in a full-court, behind the scenes press distributing misinformation. Facts:

Project will not cost a “billion dollars”
Project is not shovel ready
The project regardless of above or below ground will be spread out over every rate payer in the state – either way will cost approximately $1.00 additional per year. (Cal Strategies: Steve Larson & Hope Christman/CPUC)
We will be petitioning for the entire length of line: under river, Norco, County, La Sierra (we are correcting the press release)
No Riverside residents’ rates will go up more then a dollar per year due to this project
Norco has hired the same attorney and consultant who undergrounded Jurupa Valley and Chino Hills
Undergrounding in the EIR was deemed the superior way to go but it was not explored.
In the short term undergrounding disturbs the area but in the long term is better for the environment
When high transmission lines go up, it impedes the ability for helicopters to drop water on fires – that is exactly what saved Norco during the two large fires on our SW and SE quadrant – without those helicopters Norco would have been in trouble.
The center of Norco is rated highest for fire danger.
The river bottom is an urban forest – the EIR downplays the vegetation
The City of Riverside invested in new helicopters that may not be able to function effectively with smoke obscuring the transmission lines.
The EIR was completed prior to the devastating Paradise Fire, Norco’s two major fires and Lahaina.
The Santa Ana winds reach a higher wind speed then the hurricane winds that caused the Lahaina fire.
Hope Christman, our areas CPUC Rep is creating a fact sheet with additional information

We need a strong response from elected who carry more weight with the CPUC: we need specifically targeted letters to both electeds and CPUC. In the next few days we will be releasing talking points. Below are elected officials to contact and status of their support and our ask: please be respectful.

Senator Alex Padilla (310) 231-4494 https://www.padilla.senate.gov/contact/contact-form/

Is looking for a way to fund the undergrounding – send letters to encourage.

Congressman Ken Calvert Office (951) 277-0042
https://calvert.house.gov/zip_authentication?form=/contact/email-me

He is in full support and is currently working on figuring out the status of the re-alignment of the high transmission lines through the Hidden Valley Nature Preserve. We need a full-support letter.

Congressman Mark Takano (951) 222-0203 https://takano.house.gov/contact/email-me

Is in full support, is working with Calvert to underground. Need letters of encouragement and strong support letter.

Senator Richard Roth Office (951) 680-6750
https://sd31.senate.ca.gov/send-e-mail

Says he is supporting and has sent a rep to all RTRP meetings. Need a stronger letter that excludes the time restriction and claim of no support should rates go up (this is a false narrative being pushed by Edison)

Senator Kelly Seyarto Office (951) 280-1260
https://lcmspubcontact.lc.ca.gov/PublicLCMS/ContactPopup.php?district=SD32&inframe=N

Fully in support and onboard: Letters of support and ask to continue are appropriate.

Assemblymember Sabrina Cervantes Office (951) 371-6860
https://a58.asmdc.org/contact-me
Fully supports and is on board – but, as in the case of Senator Roth, we need a stronger letter of absolute support.

Assemblymember Bill Essayli Phone (951) 369-6644
https://lcmspubcontact.lc.ca.gov/PublicLCMS/ContactPopup.php?district=AD63&inframe=N
Fully on board and helped bring Riverside and Norco councils together.

First District County Board Supervisor Kevin Jeffries Office (951) 955-1010 district1@rivco.org

Kevin Jeffries told me he was on board and then pulled out stating the process has gone on too long and expressed concerns incorrectly about costs. He seems to believe Edison and the ask is to fully support the fact that Riverside and Norco have formed and alliance and Norco is spending big bucks to do the right thing – he needs to get on board.

Second District County Board Supervisor Karen Spiegel
district2@rivco.org Office (951) 955-1020

She is supportive and was going to agendize for a vote but it seems Edison is strong arming the Supervisors to stay quiet. Need letters encouraging her to support and agendize issue. It will not look good if it is agendized and only she votes yes – those voting no will not look so good.

Third District County Board Supervisor Chuck Washington
district3@rivco.org
Office (951) 955-1030

Has stated to me he supports undergrounding – election year, send letters to encourage full support.

Fourth District County Board Supervisor V. Manuel Perez
district4@rivco.orgOffice (951) 955-1040

Do not know him – send letters to support

Fifth District County Board Supervisor Yxstian Gutierrez
district5@rivco.orgOffice (951) 955-1050

Told me he supports Norco’s position. Send letters to encourage unqualified support.

Riverside City Council

There appears to be a deadline of September 30 – we are working really hard to have our petition in and to have the funding or a chunk in place. Steve and Chuck have done a wonderful job but holding that majority together seems to be tough. Particularly given that staff is little help. Please write each and thank them for support and encourage to do the right thing.

Erin Edwards

Has opposed vocally the coalition – letters encouraging her to support.

Mayor Lock Dawson

On board – thank you.

Clarissa Cervantes

Strongly n board – thank and encourage

Ronaldo Fierro

Strongly on board – say thank you

Chuck Conder

Organized the coalition – say thank you

Gaby Plascencia

Opposes at times – encourage support

Jim Perry

Opposes at times – encourage support

Steve Hemenway

Strongly on board and helping to organize

Safety, Transportation

Watkins Dr Bike Lane Parking

July 13, 2023 admin 2 Comments

Here’s an update on Watkins Dr. UCR side parking. Nathan suggested a possible solution. I sent him video over July 4th, when little parking was evident.

The links are below in the email.

___________

Hi Nathan,

It was good of you to join us at June’s NBT (Neighbors Better Together) meeting. You mentioned we might be able to restripe and eliminate the parking by using some sort of barrier.

I noticed that there have been some preliminary layout

marks to move the lanes Eastward slightly. In light of the neighbors desire to fulfill on the Neighborhood Specific Plan, and the support for world class bike lanes, would it be prudent to discuss barrier options before the re-stripping is done? Can we get bike land stripping on both sides of Watkins?

If we can come up with a plan over the next few weeks, we should be able to have the project ready for the start of the Fall Quarter. That would be the least disruptive time for this project to be reintroduced.

I took some video of each side of the street when the students were away for the before the 4th of July weekend. Both are under two minutes. You might want to lower the audio to eliminate the wind noise. I had my arm outside holding the phone.

It’s a little fast but once you pass UCR’s Corp. Yard entrance, you start to see the vegetation growing along the curb. This is where the broken glass and trash winds up and the street sweeper never gets to it.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/5rohc4ib1awgp4d/AADep4VGvtfu4YXucfxSo1B-a/Watkins%20Dr%20West.MOV?dl=0

The East side is clean the entire route, https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/lj1ybgnycrgs47hghnuu2/Watkins-Dr-East.MOV?rlkey=dm4jpe31xdmc5qfrc0jjc4vsu&dl=0

I’m at your service should you have a need to discuss this. Thanks for coming up with a creative potential solution. The neighbors will be very pleased.

City Of Our Dreams, Public Policy, Social Capital

UNA Apr 2023 Meeting Agenda

April 12, 2023 admin Leave a comment

Map and Directions To Crest Community Church
3431 Mt Vernon Ave, Riverside, CA 92507

1. Welcome – Introductions 5 min.

2. Nora Update 15 min.

3. Highland Elementary Name Change 20 min.

Hello,

My name is Denise Allen, and I am a teacher at Highland Elementary School, and also have lived in the neighborhood for 30+ years. I am unable to attend the April UNA meeting, but I was asked by the principal of the school to get input on a possible name change to the elementary school.

The Riverside Unified School District is considering a name change for Highland Elementary School effective next fall. The District would like to change the name of the school to honor the Harada family of Riverside, a prominent Japanese-American family who were interned during World War II.

From Wikipedia:

The Harada House is a historic house in Riverside, California. The house was the focus of a critical application of the California Alien Land Law of 1913, which prevented foreigners who were ineligible for citizenship from owning property. The state of California attempted to seize the property from the family in California v. Harada, but the Haradas ultimately won the case and retained ownership of the house. The house, created in 1884 and built upon by the Harada family, was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1990^[4] and is currently overseen by the Museum of Riverside.

The Harada House is located on the east side of Riverside on Lemon Street. A book has been written on the Harada history: The House on Lemon Street.

There will be a community meeting on Friday, April 28th at 5:30 p.m. at Highland Elementary School to present the possible name change and receive community input. I was wondering if you would be able to announce this at the UNA meeting next week? The district also plans to mail out flyers to neighborhood homes, but it is helpful for people to know as early as possible if they have questions or input.

Please feel free to contact me if you have questions, input, or other thoughts about this process for the school district leaders.

Thank you,

Denise Allen

Highland Elementary School

Riverside Unified School District

3. Council Updates 20 min.

4. UCR Updates 10 min

5. Announcements 10 min

6. Speaker Suggestions 2023

Neighborhood Issues & Resources

Follow Our Courts

US Covid Atlas

Riverside Neighborhood Partnership

Neighbors Better Together

Parks, Public Policy, Transportation, UCR

Planning Commission To Re Zone Park For STEM High School

February 15, 2023 admin Leave a comment

The proposed STEM school site on Blaine and Canyon Crest, contains two parcels of property.

One belonging to UCR, the other to the city of Riverside.

This Thursday, Feb 16 at 9am at city hall, RUSD will be presenting to the city’s planning commission a proposal to change the zoning on the city owned property in order to build the school. After hearing the presentation, the commission will make its recommendation to the city council for a final vote.

Make an E Comment, Call in or Zoom it.

We need everyone to come to the meeting or contact the planning commission to let them know our concerns about these possible changes and the impact they will have on our community.

Because this is a zoning meeting, it has been highly recommended that we focus our opposition to the zone change on issues that we feel will impact our community. Key factors to consider are:

This is not a neighborhood school where traditionally students walk to. This is a commuter school bringing school buses and hundreds of cars into our area.
District’s proposal indicates 1,200 students and 60 staff members. The proposal does not address the need for a parking lot to accommodate this many people. There are no places for parents to line up when dropping off and picking up students on Blaine, Canyon Crest, Rustin and Linden.
The proposal is to have the flow of school traffic go from Blaine to Canyon Crest then right onto the narrow parking lot by the ball fields, then exiting onto Rustin. Rustin is a very narrow two lane street already jammed with apt. cars parking on both sides of the street. Traffic from the STEAM school on the corner of Rustin and Linden already is impacting Linden and Rustin.
There is no legal parking/waiting on either side of Blaine.
UCR will begin the 2nd phase of building a 1,600 student dorm from Blaine towards Linden across from the proposed STEM site. The parking lot for the dorm will be similar to the one near Watkins with egress and ingress onto Blaine. This will severely impact traffic flow around Blaine and Canyon Crest
With the 1,260 STEM population, along with 1,600 UCR dorm students, rezoning will result in nearly 3,000 people crammed into a very small block area.
Canyon Crest is a two lane road already jammed with RTA buses, commuter cars, cyclists and pedestrians.
Rezoning will eliminate the only developed Park and Rec facility in our community. We may lose our baseball/softball and soccer fields . This field is used often by UCR intramural sports, community sport clubs and other community organizations needing a large field.
Less than a 1/2 mile from the proposed school, plans are to tear down the old Kmart on 3^rd and Iowa and construct a 1-3 bedroom complex adding hundreds of cars onto Blaine/3rd and Iowa.
Less than 1/2 mile from the proposed school site is the new warehouse on the corner of Watkins and Spruce, which will now bring commercial trucks into our neighborhood.
With the STEM traffic, UCR dorm(s) traffic, the new apt. complex at Kmart traffic, the warehouse on Spruce and Watkins trucks, the cross town commuters by passing the freeway, traffic jams already around the North High School, University Heights Middle and Highland Elementary school, rezoning this property is detrimental in increasing harmful carbon emissions from cars, buses and trucks into the air affecting especially those with health issues, our children and the elderly living in our neighborhoods.

We must first ask for a denial for this zone change or a least ask for a postponement on rezoning until an in-depth traffic and environmental study independent of the district is conducted.
We must demand that the district present a detailed plan to the commission and to the community addressing our concerns with traffic, parking and environmental issues before a decision is made to rezone, something the district has denied us for years.

We need you to contact the planning commission expressing your opposition to rezoning the city property.

Email the commissioners at fandrade@riversideca.gov. There is no individual email for each commissioner. Your email will be disseminated to each commissioner.

You are limited to 3 minutes if participating orally on Thursday, Feb 16 at 9am.

Speak in person on Thursday, Feb16 at city hall.
Calling in at (669) 900-6833 and enter Meeting ID: 926 9699 1265. Press star 9 (*9) to request to speak. Individuals in the queue will be prompted to press star 6 (*6) to unmute and speak.
By zoom at: https://zoom.us/j/92696991265 . Select the “raise hand” function to request to speak. An on-screen message will prompt you to “unmute” and speak.

Follow along with the meeting via www.RiversideCA.gov/Meeting or Riverside TV

cable channels,

Please pass this along to family and neighbors. Any additional comments to add to the list are welcomed.

University Neighborhood

Category Archives: City Of Our Dreams

Watkins Dr Bike Lane Parking

Planning Commission To Re Zone Park For STEM High School

A Neighborhood Of Our Dreams

Most Current Talking Points

Watkins Dr. Clean Up

Flag Volunteers Needed

Meet Saturday, May 13th at 8:30 a.m. Watkins Dr. & Piccacho Dr.

Wear shoes and a hat. Gloves, tools, safety vests & water provided.

A Neighborhood Of Our Dreams