Historic District meeting with county reps

In a front page story we incorrectly reported the time for the Idyllwild Historic Preservation District meeting from 3 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday Aug. 3. The meeting will take place from 7 to 9 p.m. August 3.

COUNTY OF RIVERSIDE
TRANSPORTATION AND LAND MANAGEMENT AGENCY


IDYLLWILD
Community Meeting

Tuesday, August 3, 2010, from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Town Hall, 25925 Cedar Street, Idyllwild, CA

AGENDA

1. Introduction of County representatives in attendance (Also, please sign in, and update as needed, the meeting attendance sign-in sheet – Thank you!).

2. Proposed revision to Riverside County Ordinance 578 (Providing for the Establishment of Historic Preservation Districts - countywide). Ordinance revision was initiated by the Board of Supervisors on July 13, 2010, and upon adoption by the Board, expected later this year, it would provide County rules for the formation and administration of the proposed Idyllwild Commercial Core Historic Preservation District. Staff will present the draft revised ordinance to the audience, discuss it in detail, section-by-section, and take audience questions and comments regarding it. (approx. 30 - 45 minutes)

3. Review of Proposed Idyllwild Commercial Core Historic Preservation District: background, proposed boundaries, and purposes (code compliance facilitation, protection of historic village features and ambiance, and encouragement of historic tourism), and potential supporting programs (use of state Historic Building Code, Mills Act, special Ordinance 348 “zoning overlay” parking and landscaping standards, and other programs to facilitate use of historic structures for businesses, residences, and other purposes). (approx. 30 minutes)

4. Anticipated schedule for completion of process to establish historic preservation district, including future community meetings and public meetings/hearings before County Historical Commission, Planning Commission, and Board of Supervisors. (approx. 5 minutes)

5. General questions & answers. (approx. 30 minutes)

6. Other community updates, as available (approx. 10 minutes)

7. Adjournment.

For further information, please refer to http://www.rctlma.org/planning/index.html, the Planning Department’s internet home page, and look under the listing “Idyllwild Planning Programs.” For questions or to comment, please contact Mr. Keith Herron, Chief Preservation Officer, Riverside County Park and Open Space District staff, at KHERRON@co.riverside.ca.us, or (951) 955-4558, or Ms. Kristi Lovelady, Principal Planner, Riverside County TLMA/Planning Department staff, at KLOVELAD@rctlma.org, or (760) 393-3411.



















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Attentin Garnver Valley readers

Corridor Management Planning Process underway for Palms to Pines Scenic Byway

By Beth Nottley, Staff Reporter

Wednesday's meeting is about the Palms to Pines Scenic byway, not the Cal Trans tree proposal!

Public meetings are scheduled next week to garner citizen input to complete a Corridor Management Plan (CMP) for the State-designated Palms to Pines Scenic Highway. A CMP is a written plan developed by the communities along a scenic byway that outlines how to protect and enhance the byway’s intrinsic qualities and character that define their byway corridor. The Palms to Pines Scenic Byway follows a 67-mile route on State Highways 74 and 243 from Palm Desert to Banning.

The CMP planning process will include representatives from the Forest Service, State Parks, Bureau of Land Management, CalTrans and members of local communities. It is expected that the planning process will take a year to complete, with a Draft Corridor Management Plan completion scheduled for June 2011.

All interested community members are invited to attend the community meetings, which are designed to provide a forum for discussion, question and answer, voicing of concerns, and arrival to a common vision for the Palms to Pines Scenic Byway.

The meetings will be held on Wednesday, July 28: 10:30 a.m. in Idyllwild at the Forest Service office; 1:30 p.m. at the Garner Valley Commons; and 4:30 p.m. at the Pinyon Fire Station.

IFPD special meeting Friday, July 23 at 6:00 pm

AGENDA

Idyllwild Fire Protection District Board of Commissioners
Special Meeting with Closed Session

Friday, July 23, 2010 at 6:00 PM (NO WORKSHOP)

The meeting will be held at the IFPD Station, 54160 Maranatha Drive, Idyllwild, Ca

Call to Order: Please quiet your cell phones and pagers.

Roll Call: Commissioners Capparelli – Killingsworth – Riggi - Schelly – Stigall
Interim-Chief Norm Walker and Administrative Assistant Rhonda Andrewson

Pledge of Allegiance: Pledge led by ____________

Citizens’ Comments:
If you challenge any decision in court, you may be limited to raising only those items you or someone else raised at the public meeting described in this notice, or in written correspondence delivered to this agency at, or prior to, the public meeting.

Special Session Item(s):
1. Additional Assessment Tax: Update on additional tax assessment for November 2010 ballot.
2. Mountain Community Fire Safe Council: Status update of IFPD’s potential partnership with MCFSC to oversee FEMA grant (if awarded.)

Special Session ended at _________
Non-Board members excused.

__________________________________________________

Closed Session

Closed Session started at _________

Closed Session Item:
Final Board review of Interim-Chief Walker’s permanent contract prior to legal review.

Closed Session ended at ________
___________________________________________________


Return to Special Session at ________

Public announcement of any actions taken during closed session:

Motion to adjourn made by _____.
Meeting adjourned at ______.
Next regular Board meeting is on August 10, 2010.

"The People of this State do not yield their sovereignty to the agencies which serve them. The people, in delegating authority, do not give their public servants the right to decide what is good for the people to know and what is not good for them to know. The people insist on remaining informed so that they may retain control over the instruments they have created."
~Preamble from “The Brown Act”

Note: if you would like to receive a copy of IFPD’s meeting agendas at the time they are posted; please send your request to CommissionerStigall@IdyllwildFire.com.

Forest Fire Restrictions

Yesterday, the U.S. Forest Service issued new and tighter fire restrictions for the San Bernardino National Forest (SBNF). Forest officials were spurred to action by the recent high temperatures, which are rapidly reducing vegetative moisture levels.

The current restrictions were effective Monday, July 19 and include the following:

Wood or charcoal fires are permitted only in developed campgrounds, picnic areas and Yellow Post sites on the San Bernardino National Forest;

Campfire permits, which available at your local Ranger Station, are required for propane and gas stoves and lanterns used outside of developed recreation sites; Recreational shooting is limited to designated sites and public shooting ranges operated under special use permit only — except those engaged in legal hunting; An approved spark arrester is required for any internal combustion engine. This applies to chainsaws, generators, motorcycles, and off-highway vehicles operated on the National Forest;

Smoking is limited to enclosed vehicles, buildings and developed recreation sites;

A permit is required for welding or operating any torch device with an open flame or for use of any explosive device; and

Fireworks are always prohibited on the SBNF. Tracer, armor piercing, steel core, and Teflon ammunitions are also prohibited, as is discharging a firearm at any exploding target.

Besides the above specific restrictions SBNF officials advise travelers that they should never park on dry brush or grass.

Historic District meeting with county reps

On Tuesday, Aug. 3, from 7 to 9 p.m. at Town Hall, Deputy Planning Director Jerry Jolliffe and staff involved in working to create a Historic District for Idyllwild, will meet with townspeople to update the community on steps taken to date, including the creation of authorizing legislation that would update the existing and outdated ordinance.

At this point, the proposed District focuses on commercial buildings. Should a decision be made in the future to create a second district focusing on residential properties, a second survey will have to be done to determine what if any historical value those properties might possess.

This meeting will consider progress on drafting authorizing code, streamlining historic district permit processes to benefit both the county and historic district property owners, how code applies to residential properties in the proposed district, provisions, if any, for opting out, and any other questions affected property owners might have.

Yes, a quake

May be it was love, but yes you felt the earth move today, about 15 minutes ago, we felt a pretty good earthquake here in Idyllwild. This was not MDP's shake up!

Prelimnary U.S. Geological Survey data indicate it was between 5.4 and, possibly as strong as, 5.9 earhquake near Borrego Springs.

Anyone here experience any damage?

received this message from MDP:

Hi
Well, our Shake Up drill is most timely. The shaker many of you just felt was a 5.6 to 5.9 centered in Borrego Springs/Anza and some of you experienced phone outage including our household in Fern Valley. Our MDP radio check in reported some pictures askew and a Kachina at the Alt house fell over. Email with Verizon stayed on.

That is just plain "too close for comfort". Please "be prepared".

See you Saturday at the drill. If you need the info again, email me at Veronica.m@altandassociates.com

Uncounted ballots

The uncounted ballot story is now moving forward on several paths — legal, federal and local. The state court may decide what the county can do about these ballots, but the federal congressional delegation is trying to develop and new policy with the U.S Postal Service, while Assemblyman Brian Nestande is trying to navigate new state legislation to avoid future repetitions of the situation.

Legal

Yesterday, the Riverside County Democratic Central Committee and three Moreno Valley voters filed a suit against Riverside County Registrar of Voters, Barbara Dunmore, to “prohibit [her] from refusing to count and include in the certified vote tally ballots hat were in the hands of he U.S. Postal Service and available for pick up before 8 p.m. on June 8, 2010.”

Dunmore maintains and the suit confirms that state law requires ballots be with election officials before the polls close in order to be counted.

However, the plaintiffs argued that in 2002 after the 2000 presidential elections (Bush and Gore were the major party candidates), California voters adopted Proposition 43, which amended the state constitution with the following language:

“A voter who casts a vote in an election in accordance with the laws of this State shall have that vote counted.”

The voters in the suit maintain they mailed their ballots days before the deadline, the ballots are among the uncounted 12,563 and the only reason they were not in election officials hands was confusion between the Postal Service and Dunmore’s office, according to their attorney James C. Harrsion

The suit was filed Thursday afternoon, an early hearing Thursday morning, the Judge issued an injunction extending the time Dunmore has to submitted the County’s certified vote totals to the Secretary of State. Judge Mac Fisher will have a hearing Friday July 9 to consider the merits of the case.

Legislative

While the judiciary addresses the outcome of the 12,500 ballots uncounted from the June 8 primary, Assemblyman Brian Nestande has submitted legislation to ensure the problem does not occur in the future.

His bill A.B. 2642 would grant authority to count a ballot with a postmark on or before election day, just as one’s tax return is not late if post marked by April 15.

If a senate committee does not hear the bill tomorrow, Friday, July2, Nestande’s effort may wither for this year, according to his Chief of Staff Rob Flanigan.

If the state legislature does adopt the proposal it will not be in effective until January 1, thus it will not apply to this fall’s general election on Nov. 2.

Executive

Last week, four members of the California congressional delegation wrote to John Potter, the Postmaster General, asking him to respond to a series of questions about the Poster Service’s role in collecting, delivering and protecting the mail ballots.

They asked some general questions about the USPS policies and several specific questions about what happened in Riverside County last month. Such as, “What communications regarding the handling of the vote-by-mail ballots occurred between the USPS and Riverside County Registrar’s Office prior to the 2010 Statewide Primary election?”

The members signing the letter were Many Bono Mack (R 45), Ken Calvert (R 44), Darrell Issa (R 49) and Jerry Lewis (R 41).

Separately, Riverside County Executive Officer William Luna is conducting an internal investigation and will submit a report to the Board at its July 13 session.