Anza Events Calendar, A-2
Your life in photos, A-4
How to get healthy soil in your garden, B-1
ANZA VALLEY
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March 20 – 26 2015
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Anza Community Hall General Meeting: What you should know before the vote
Section Volume 15, Issue 12
Thimble Club donates three benches to Minor Park
Jodi Thomas Anza Valley Outlook Manager Members of three communities will be able to vote for a new board for the Anza Valley Community Hall at 7:30 p.m. on March 19 at The Hall. see page A-5
Local
Fire fee tax time commences for area Jodi Thomas Anza Valley Outlook Manager The state of California has begun mailing fire fee bills this month, a ritual well known to rural habitable property owners who are under CAL FIRE protection. see page A-3
Local
Anza VFW Post #1873 and its auxiliaries news Tonie Ford Local Contributor I think Spring has sprung. But don’t start planting those gardens yet! It’s been known to snow in April. For you newcomers to the area, the rule of thumb in Anza is “Don’t plant until after Mother’s Day”. That is, unless you want to take the chance of having to replant after the snow has melted and the ground isn’t frozen. Those of us who have fruit trees blooming are holding our collective breaths that the blossoms don’t freeze and we may realize the fruits of our labor in the summer.
PRSRT STD US POSTAGE PAID FALLBROOK, CA PERMIT #499
see page A-4
Thimble Club sisters test the new benches (from left to right): Anna Cleveland, Mary Ann Mink, Teri Crutchfield, Ruth Crosland, Sherri Petrock, Annie Ashby, Pat Boswell and Jackie Braaten; Seated: Alice Hopkins, Shaaron Chambers, Lynn Johnson and Tonie Ford. Thimble Club photo
Jodi Thomas Anza Valley Outlook Manager When Mary Bohme took her young grandson to Minor Park she was left without a place near the playground to comfortably sit and watch him. There were no benches or other forms of seating at the park.
law of one of the club’s members, was asked if he would look into the project and he agreed. Packard soon joined up with his architect friend Paul Pedtke and the two worked together to find quality benches and create the pads needed for those benches. Once that was done and the benches arrived, another friend
and fellow contractor, Brian Smith, help Packard install the benches. Finally, smiling and excited members of the Thimble Club Sisters came to check out the benches themselves. While the Thimble Club paid for all the expenses, Packard, Pedtke
see THIMBLE, page A-7
Accident causes backup on Highway 79 South Kim Harris Managing Editor An accident with injuries that occurred on Friday, March 13 caused a significant back-up on Highway 79 South leading into Anza. According to Riverside County Sheriff’s Deputy Armando Munoz, a Riverside County Sheriff’s deputy attempted to stop a vehicle for a possible DUI at the intersection of Ynez and Rancho Vista roads in Temecula, after a Temecula Police Department officer observed a gray 1980s Ford pick-up traveling southbound on Jefferson Avenue at excessive speeds. “The officer approached the speeding vehicle in order to conduct a traffic stop, and further witnessed the Ford begin to swerve
see ACCIDENT, page A-5
Anza Valley Outlook
She talked about that absence with the other members of the Thimble Club, one of Anza’s oldest organizations, and they agreed that benches that could help people comfortably watch their playing children and grandchildren were needed and was a worthy Thimble Club project. Steve Packard, who is the son-in-
Traffic backed up for several miles following a chase through Temecula that ended in an accident sending Kim Harris photo three to a nearby hospital.
Input sought as Riverside County amends county-wide general plan Jodi Thomas Anza Valley Outlook Manager Riverside County will be amending its general plan and is asking members of the public to review and comment on the amendment, titled, General Plan Amendment No. 960 in addition to a draft of the recirculated environmental impact report. Various revisions are proposed for nearly all of the General Plan’s elements; some items affect countywide policies, some items affect specific parcels. The county invites the public to view GPA No. 960 as well as the environmental impact report documents at the Anza Public Library, which is located at 57430 Mitchell Rd. in Anza. The library is to the right of Hamilton High School’s administration building. The library is open from 9 a.m.to 3 p.m. Mondays and Fridays and 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through
Thursday. The library is open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday and is closed Sunday. Whether documents are observed at the library or online comments must be submitted in writing and must be received by the close of business on April 6. Comments can be sent to Principal Planner Kristi Lovelady at4080 Lemon St., 12th Floor, in Riverside. Lovelady can also be e-mailed comments at klovelad@rctlma.org. What Riverside County has to say about this new plan According to county’s Planning website, the county has “embarked on its first General Plan review cycle since the adoption of the 2003 RCIP General Plan.” General Plan Amendment No. 960 was developed to ensure that the comprehensive plan of 2003 remains a useful blueprint for the county’s growth.
Accordingly, GPA No. 960 encompasses a variety of General Plan changes to promote focused and balanced growth, yet minimize potential adverse impacts to the environment. Specific changes are proposed throughout the various General Plan Elements and Area Plans, as well as its appendices. In conjunction with the GPA No. 960 effort, the county also prepared Draft Environmental Impact Report No. 521 and Draft Climate Action Plan. NOTE: No zoning changes are proposed as part of GPA No. 960. The County of Riverside is recirculating Draft Environmental Impact Report No. 521 (DEIR No. 521) along with the Draft General Plan Amendment No. 960 (GPA No. 960), and the Draft Climate Action Plan (CAP) due to substantial changes made to the documents. The recirculated documents and
the NOA (in English and Spanish) are included below for your reference. The County is soliciting comments from February 21, 2015 through April 6, 2015 on the DEIR No. 521 in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act, Section 15088.5 Recirculation of an EIR Prior to Certification. The recirculated documents better account for the changing environment in Riverside County and more accurately address future conditions. Comments made during the May/ June 2014 public review period will be included in the administrative record; however they will not be addressed in the Response to Comments. Per Section 15088.5(f)(1) of the CEQA Guidelines, only those comments submitted in response to the recirculated Environmental Impact Report will receive a formal written response in the Response to Comments as a part of the Final EIR.