Over the last 20 years, Murrieta City Council members and Planning Commission members have mulled over a 64.3 acres of land called the “Golden Triangle” ideally centered for business or recreation between two freeways and a busy downtown street.
Its location is south of Murrieta Hot Springs Road, west of the Interstate 215 freeway and east of the Interstate 15 freeway to the point where the two freeways join. Now it is vacant land owned by the Andy Domenigoni family seeking to develop the prized piece of land.
There have been proposals of an old town western recreation and business center, an indoor mall, a regional park and even a lake to try out different boat craft. Environment issues, zoning, traffic problems and financing difficulties have been some of the issues holding up its development over the past 20 or more years.
On Aug. 24 during the Murrieta City Council meeting, a Specific Plan Amendment, Tract Map and Development Plan, carefully studied by the Murrieta Planning Department, commissioners, environmental engineers, Native American tribal consultants, police department and many others, approved The Shops at the Triangle outdoor mall Specific Plan in a strong 5-0 majority vote. The vote of approval was met with a standing ovation by the members of the council and the excited audience.
Details of the project to be located on three separate parcels were described by members of the city planning staff. The outdoor mixed use mall will include offices, stores, hotel, entertainment and restaurant spaces as part of an integrated commercial and business complex. Some of the offices would include a medical facility, police department storefront, finance companies, bank outlets, the possibility of several drive-thru restaurants, a hotel, walk-in restaurants, varied retail stores, and a landscaped parking lot. There will be a market-driven mix of mid and/or high-rise buildings; offices combined with retail uses; and traditional retail and hospitality uses.
The specific plan suggests the Shops at the Triangle will be a center of business and leisure time activity in the city of Murrieta for decades into the future. Over time, the design elements of The Triangle may be modified, enhanced or expanded. The approach of separating the Design Guidelines from the Specific Plan allows for design flexibility and maximum creativity both during the initial stage of development and for changes over a longer period of time.
The specific plan
As presented to the council, the plan could have speed controlled (Deceleration lanes) entrances off of Murrieta Hot Springs Road on Monroe, Sparkman and Hancock avenues.
The specific plan suggested the goals of the long-sought development would help the city in the following ways:
“Enhance the economic vitality of the community by introducing additional segments of the retail market and entertainment, including large scale national retailers in prominent and visible retail concentration along Murrieta Hot Springs Road that will spawn additional economic activity through the multiplier effect.
“Increase tax revenues to the city of Murrieta by recapturing sales currently ‘leaking’ to other areas, attracting new sales from outside the community, and enhancing other income sources such as property tax, business license fees, and development fees.
“Improve the sub-regional jobs to housing ratio by providing a substantial number of new construction and permanent jobs in the local community.
“Introduce new, unique, high quality and progressive retail, entertainment and service providers currently unavailable in the Murrieta market to serve local needs, thereby reducing regional traffic impacts by reducing the number of trips from Murrieta residents to providers outside the city.”
Patrick Ellis, president of the Murrieta/Wildomar Chamber of Commerce appeared before the council to say, “This is an exciting night. It is an amazing project.” He encouraged the council to accept the plan.
Council Member Jon Levell said, “This has been a long time coming… hopefully we can see some dirt moving this year,” on the Triangle project.
“This is a happy day to see this go forward,“ said Lisa DeForest of the Murrieta City Council.
Mayor Lori Stone congratulated the staff and the Domenigoni family for seeing this project through. “It’s going to change the entire region,” she suggested.
In the short discussion, DeForest made the motion to approve the project with Council Member Levell giving a quick second, resulting in a large standing applause moment.
In other business, the council all joined in promising to form a winning city team to promote the “More Than Pink Walk” in support of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.
They approved amendments to the city’s FiscalYear 2024/25 Operating Budget more austire than last year’s budget because of the changing economic times. They also gave their approval to 29 consent items, some remaining from the earlier council meeting that was canceled at the beginning of the month.
Tony Ault can be reached via email at tault@reedermedia.com.
