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9 | Four Seasons Hemet Herald | January 2015 | Here we are in the year 2015. The Landscape Committee wishes everyone a "Happy New Year." There are many landscape projects that need to be addressed as we enter 2015. This year, the Committee will be working on new procedural guidelines for the future. In years past, issues requiring attention were minimal. Now, as trees and plants have matured they have presented many more challenges than in previous years. Rather than using a "shotgun" approach each item requires more attention in order to provide a more prudent and cost effective solution. The month of December provided us with some well needed rain. While the rains did not relieve the drought situation we face, it did allow us to minimize water usage. Hopefully everyone made adjustments to their water timers to save water. Now is a good time to replace your water irrigation nozzles with those that are more efficient. If you are not sure what nozzles are most effective, ask your individual gardeners to help you in your selection. Keep in mind that not all replacement nozzles will work with all the various sprinkler heads. Landscape Committee Committee Awareness Committee WE WON! Due to the persistent efforts of the Community Awareness Committee and a number of residents from Four Seasons and Reinhardt Canyon, we convinced the Board of Supervisors to deny the Developers Project to build 330 homes in the canyon. On Nov. 27, several hundred people attended the Board Meeting in Riverside. It was a marathon session. We arrived at 10 am and finally left at 7 pm. A number of speakers presented good arguments to convince the Board to deny the project. Bruce Cowie and Russ Brown addressed the public safety issues. Russ pointed out the emergency access routes had significant flaws and would create major problems in any emergency evacuation. Bruce discussed the dangers of a fire in a box canyon with the high winds that swirl through the canyon and other issues with fire. Sharon Deuber discussed how the developer does not have access through Four Seasons. Dee Hydinger spoke about the General Plan of Hemet and the proposed County General Plan Amendment, which both designate Reinhardt Canyon as minimum 5/10 acre lots. Kathy Smigun, a resident of Maze Stone Village, spoke on the shenanigans that occurred in 2003 when the County changed the land use designation of the canyon from minimum 5/10 acre lot size to minimum ½ acre lots. A number of other speakers presented the Board with their concerns and personal reasons for denying the project. At the end of the day, the Board agreed with the above speakers. The board members were polite and listened to everyone who spoke. Each Board Member seriously thought about the Project and made decisions they considered to be best for Riverside County and the Canyon. They were reluctant to vote against Jeff Stone, who supported the project and was the Supervisor for our area. But, finally the public safety prevailed over any loyalty to Jeff Stone. It was a pleasure to see true democracy in action. The Community Awareness Committee would like to thank some very special people. Cash Hovivian, who made us aware of the problems in the canyon, stayed on top of the issues and provided the buses for residents to go to the public hearings. Kathy Smigun and Sharon Deuber were persistent and did excellent research. Jeff Specht led the successful fight to protect the canyon in 2008 and founded the Community Awareness Committee. The hundreds of people who demonstrated their opposition to the project at two public hearings. Last, Gene Hikel kept everyone on task and organized the presentations. These people all made major contributions to the effort. A chapter in the fight to protect Reinhardt Canyon is closed. Next we need to guarantee the County General Plan 960 is approved with the land use designation of 5/10 acre lots for the Canyon. The present version of GPA 960 has this designation. We need to make sure the designation for 5/10 acre lots stays in the amendment and is approved by the Board of Supervisors.

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