The Riverside County Planning Commission voted July 30 to approve a public use permit and adopt a mitigated negative declaration for the new Temecula Valley Charter School campus, a proposed 12-acre site that will replace the school's current location and accommodate up to 900 students in kindergarten through eighth grade.

Heidi Aguirre, project planner, told the commission the site is in the Highway 79 policy area within the Southwest Area Plan and is consistent with the general planfoundational components that allow public uses such as schools. The campus layout includes a 17,292-square-foot main building and 29 modular classroom units; the school anticipates about 70 staff. Hours of operation are weekdays 8:10 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., office hours 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and after-school programs until 6:00 p.m.

Traffic and circulation were central topics. The applicant presented a two-driveway design on Jades Road with an ingress-only lane and a separate full-access driveway; on-site stacking in two lanes is designed to accommodate dozens of vehicles in the pick-up/drop-off loop. Planner Aguirre and Transportation Department staff confirmed there will be signage restricting certain turns from the campus during peak drop-off and pick-up times and that staff would continue to work with the school on operational controls. Transportation staff described the internal queuing capacity and said the design routes cars through an internal loop to reduce on-street queuing.

As a result of public agency review, staff recommended mitigation and conditions: a survey for biological resources requested by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife prior to grading (staff report); and additional conditions following a comment from the Metropolitan Water District including increased eastern boundary fencing (from 6 to 8 feet) and submittal to the district for project review. Planning staff circulated the initial study/mitigated negative declaration and received four written comments, including the Department of Fish and Wildlife and Metropolitan Water District; staff proposed errata and a mitigation monitoring and reporting program as part of the recommended action.

Doctor Charity Plaxton Hennings, superintendent of Temecula Valley Charter School, described the school's history and community ties: "Temecula Valley Charter School is the oldest charter school in Riverside County and number 63 in the state," she told commissioners. Hennings and the school's representative, Grant Becklam, said the school accepts staff conditions recommended by county departments and will implement on-site measures such as staff-directed traffic management during peak periods.

The commission adopted the mitigated negative declaration (State Clearinghouse No. 4506128), the associated mitigation monitoring and reporting program, and approved Public Use Permit No. 20Three-1 subject to the conditions in the staff report and the additional conditions circulated the morning of the hearing. The applicant stated acceptance of the conditions on the record.

What this means: The approval authorizes the public use permit subject to county conditions; construction remains subject to permits, final engineering, and compliance with the mitigation and monitoring program.