Temecula Approves New Development Project, Opponents Speak Out

TEMECULA, CA — The Temecula City Council approved a mixed-use development and a highway in the hills above Old Town Temecula Tuesday which opponents of the development claim will disrupt local wildlife.

Officials with the Center for Biological Diversity, a nonprofit conservation organization, say the Altair development would add about 200 acres of mixed-use development that could wipe out the local mountain lion population and destroy habitat for rare western pond turtles.

"The City Council just put these iconic predators on a one-way path to extinction," said J.P. Rose, an attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity. "Temecula's decision shows a really reckless disregard for the wildlife and wild places that belong to all Californians."

Part of the development sits on a 55-acre parcel known as the "South Parcel," which is adjacent to the Santa Margarita River, Murrieta Creek and San Diego State University's Santa Margarita Ecological Reserve, according to Rose.

The South Parcel is one of the last places that coastal mountain lions can safely travel from the coast to inland ranges, Rose said.

Mountain lion experts including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife have repeatedly informed the city that this development will severely limit the Santa Ana mountain lions' ability to migrate to inland areas, Rose said.

"It's hard to understand why the city is hell-bent on scarring the scenic hills above Old Town Temecula with a highway that will endanger the health of residents and wildlife," Rose said. "People come to California for stunning landscapes and wildlife, not air pollution and traffic jams."

Tuesday's vote leaves the public with about 30 days to file litigation challenging Temecula officials' environmental review of the project, according to Rose.

— By City News Service / Patch file photo by Renee Schiavone