Wine Country Meetings Cut Short, Critics Say

A plan to direct development in Wine Country was developed with too little input from residents, critics said.

The met at today for what was slated to be its final meeting.

The final draft of a document they created during the last two and a half years was presented to the committee and about 100 community members.

The document, called the , aims to guide growth in Temecula's Wine Country.

Residents raised concerns about letting developers change the rural character of the region. To read about their concerns, .

The committee grew from six to 19 people since its inception in 2009, and in the early phases, no representatives of residents were involved.

So, some early decisions were made with no input from residents, said Elisa Niederecker, a resident and committee member.

"A lot of these (decisions) that are marked as unanimous are not unanimous," she said.

Many Wine Country residents had no idea about the meetings, said Al Abbott, a local resident.

"Years ago, people should've gotten the community involved, not just vitners," he said. "I know dozens and dozens of my neighbors who don't know anything about it."

She brought up several issues, including the ban against 4-H and Future Farmers of America programs and the limit to having only two animals per acre.

"These are issues residents never got a chance to vote on," she said to the committee, and an audience members murmured, "That's right."

She feels residents' input has been treated less seriously than other committee members, which includes mostly members of big business people, winery owners and developers.

"I've been told, 'You don't understand this, you don't see the big picture, you're a stupid idiot, go home,'" she said.

Dan Stephenson, the chairman of the Rancon Group, a large developer in Southwest Riverside County, pushed to end the meetings.

"Here we are on the five-yard line and somebody who's been involved in three or four drafts of this plan is she's saying she has problems," he said. "That's just a shame… we've all worked very hard on this."

Committee Member Lorraine Harrington suggested holding another meeting after the county prepares a report that will analyze the plan's impact on the local environment and quality of life.

Her suggestion was shot down by George Johnson, the director of the county's Transportation and Land Management Agency. "If we have a burning issue, we can address that when the time comes," he said.

The plan's next step is to be analyzed for an environmental impact report. Then, after a review period, it will go to the Riverside County Planning Commission for a vote.