Council Rejects Appeal of Study Supporting Retail Center

An aerial view of the site of the Shoppes at the Lakes on the southeast corner of Newport Road and Menifee Road.

The Menifee City Council Wednesday night rejected an appeal of the traffic study supporting plot plans for the proposed Shoppes at the Lakes retail center, instead approving plans for the 121,000-square-foot center to be built on the southeast corner of Newport Road and Menifee Road.

The plans were approved by the Planning Commission on Dec. 10 but were appealed by the Diamond Brothers Partnership -- the developer of an Arco station and AM/PM minimarket and owner of adjacent entitled land across the street from the Shoppes at the Lakes site. Diamond Brothers' primary complaint in Wednesday's public hearing was that a study of traffic impact of the site was flawed and that a proposed traffic signal at the main entrance to the center would increase traffic back-up in the area.

City officials' traffic study argues that a traffic light on Newport Road, halfway between Menifee Road and Laguna Vista Drive, is necessary to help mitigate traffic congestion and -- along with other factors including the upcoming freeway interchange project down the road -- ensure what it considers "less than significant impact" on traffic.

No one is arguing the fact that the Shoppes at the Lakes -- to be anchored by a Stater Bros. market and CVS pharmacy -- will draw additional traffic to the site. The discussion concerned whether an additional traffic signal and reconfiguring of through lanes and turn lanes on Newport Road would significantly add to the congestion on the busy east-west thoroughfare.

"They were excited to see business come to that area," said Gavril Gabriel, the attorney representing Diamond Brothers, which has not yet submitted any plans for its proposed retail center on the north side of Newport Road. "What they don't like is the traffic signal at that point. We have reviewed the study and find it to be flawed.

"The mitigation the city describes is general traffic improvements being made, not a project specific to this. We just don't believe a project of this magnitude will not have a significant impact on traffic."

Council members had to weigh that argument against several other factors. Among them were:

-- Recommendation by staff, and supported by the Planning Commission, to approve the plan, citing traffic mitigation including the signal, additional left turn lanes at Newport and Menifee roads, and a lengthy left-turn lane from westbound Newport into the new center, embedded in the center median.

-- The need for a major retail center east of Interstate 215, which officials believe will eventually reduce traffic across the freeway.

-- The opportunity to keep more tax dollars in Menifee. Currently, many consumers on the east side of the freeway drive south to shop at Albertson's in Murrieta rather than face the traffic heading over the freeway.

-- A request expressed by residents at a recent workshop to make a heavy traffic area as safe as possible for school children crossing in the area. Callie Kirkpatrick Elementary School is just south of the intersection on Menifee Road.

"If you listened to the people who attended that workshop, you have to stop and consider everything," said council member Greg August. "Is the issue the need to move traffic quickly through the area or slowing it down to consider the safety of people trying to cross the street?"

According to the plans presented by city staff, the traffic lights at Laguna Vista Drive, the entrance to the center and Menifee Road would be synchronized to maximize traffic flow. At the same time, the additional traffic signal would allow motorists to move in and out of the center's main driveway. The center could be entered off all four surrounding streets, including Rockport Road to the south.

"I'm having a hard time understanding why your client is grieved about this traffic signal," Mayor Scott Mann told Gabriel. "The traffic is really an issue with the freeway interchange, and that project is underway."

Mayor pro tem John Denver agreed with Mann.

"If all the lights are timed, how does the total number of lights on that road affect the traffic?" he asked.

It's impossible to know just what impact the Shoppes at the Lakes will have on traffic in the area. At any rate, the appeal was unanimously rejected and the project approved. Plans call for grading to begin in the spring and the project to be complete by the summer of 2016.

Red star shows the proposed location of an additional traffic signal at the main entrance to the Shoppes at the Lakes.