Menifee council denies appeal, approves Menifee 27 subdivision with pedestrian-access condition

Acting Mayor Carwin and the Menifee City Council voted 4-0 to deny an appeal and approve the Menifee 27 residential project, a proposed 192-lot subdivision on about 27.14 acres, while adding a condition requiring pedestrian and vehicular access where E Street meets the neighboring commercial development.

Russell Brown, the city’s senior planner, told the council the project includes 192 single-family lots with two product-type lot sizes, on-site amenities including a central pool and a paseo, and requests waivers for smaller lot sizes and reduced setbacks under the state density-bonus program. Brown said the application relies on CEQA Guidelines sections 15182 and 15183 and that staff and the city’s CEQA consultant concluded the project met exemption criteria.

At the public hearing, Victoria Young of the environmental law firm representing SAFER asked the council to grant the appeal and require a full environmental impact report. Young said the project exceeds the specific-plan density for Planning Area 7B, cited expert reports alleging seven special-status species on site and predicted bird-collision and habitat-loss impacts, and raised construction diesel particulate and greenhouse-gas concerns that, she argued, were not evaluated in the prior EIRs. "SAFER respectfully requests that the city council grant the appeal and require full CEQA review of the Menifee 27 residential project," Young said.

Connie Dobreva of EPD Solutions, the consultant who prepared the CEQA analysis for the project, told the council the team performed a "ground to plan" review of existing conditions — vehicle miles traveled, air quality and biological resources — and concluded the findings were consistent with the prior general-plan and specific-plan EIRs. "We did do a full CEQA review on this project," Dobreva said, adding that the density-bonus rules operate by law to make the project consistent with density provisions.

Developer Brian Taylor said the team would work with staff on the wall and fence plan and incorporate pedestrian access at the shared property line, noting the developer's biologist was available to answer technical questions. "We're working on the wall and fence plan right now, so we'll add it in," Taylor said.

City Attorney Melching read a condition into the record requiring the applicant to provide pedestrian and vehicular access at the point where E Street abuts the neighboring commercial development, subject to the city engineer's design approval; staff said the condition language would be finalized in the conditions of approval. The council then moved to approve the project including the added condition; the motion passed 4-0 and the appeal was denied.

The project entitlements referenced in staff materials included Tentative Tract Map No. 39115 and the plot plan PLN24-254; staff and the developer will proceed to finalize engineering and conditions of approval in accordance with the council's direction.

Next steps: with the council’s approval the applicant will return to staff for final engineering, design review and completion of the written conditions; any further appeals or permit requirements would follow the city’s standard timelines and processes.