Latest Turf War Leaves Menifee Lakes in the Middle

A Valley-Wide landscaping project stopped by the City of Menifee has left this scene along Newport Road. Menifee 24/7 photo: Doug Spoon

The battle between the City of Menifee and Valley-Wide Recreation & Park District over control of parks, recreation facilities and landscaping east of the freeway likely won't be decided for a few months. Meanwhile, the focus is on their latest face-off, which has turned out to be a real turf war.

Literally, the turf has all been either dug up or allowed to die under the desert sun. Figuratively, the turf in this case is one of several aspects of a struggle for control that ultimately will be decided by a governing body, probably not until November. For now, all the residents of the Menifee Lakes community and leaders of the Menifee Lakes Master Association care about is getting the green back in their neighborhood.

Here are some key points amid the confusion and contention:

1. For years -- starting well before the incorporation of Menifee as a city in 2008 -- Valley-Wide has maintained the landscaping along Newport Road from Menifee Road to Antelope Road in the parkway areas bordering the Menifee Lakes community -- among other parkway areas in east Menifee. A regional district formed in 1972 and covering some 800 square miles, Valley-Wide is better known in Menifee for its role in operating parks and recreation facilities such as Wheatfield Park, located at the intersection of Menifee Road and La Piedra Road. Yet it also continues to care for the landscaping along Menifee Road and Newport Road, which until the last year consisted primarily of green turf between the street and the Menifee Lakes housing tract and golf course.

2. For more than two years, the City of Menifee and Valley-Wide have been on somewhat of a crash course, with no arbitration involved to settle the dispute. The City took control of parks, recreation and landscaping west of Interstate 215 from Riverside County in 2014, then created a Community Services Department with the intention of ultimately taking control of the east side from Valley-Wide. As Valley-Wide officials and their resident supporters continued to fight back, the City last December applied for a detachment from Valley-Wide through a request to the Riverside County Local Area Formation Commission.

According to that organization's own documents, LAFCOs were created by the government to "encourage orderly development within their county of jurisdiction." Thus later this year, the local LAFCO will rule on whether the City of Menifee may, in essence, take over Valley-Wide's territory.

3. Months ago, responding to Governor Brown's order regarding reduction of water usage and the switch to drought-tolerant landscaping, Valley-Wide turned off the sprinklers on its well-manicured, green parkways. According to a Valley-Wide official, notice was published to local residents regarding plans for turf removal and retrofitting for landscaping that would comply with state water restrictions.

4. On approximately June 22, a contractor hired by Valley-Wide began the turf removal and preparations for re-piping to establish recyclable water lines.

5. On June 28, stating that Valley-Wide's plans for the project did not meet standards and had never received final approval, the City issued a stop work order on the project.

The result: A lot of angry Menifee Lakes residents who aren't sure whether to blame the City, Valley-Wide, or both.

Carl Sjostrom's' home backs up to Menifee Road across from Wheatfield Park. The parkway behind his back wall and facing the street is brown with dead turf. He has circulated a flier he says represents the feelings of many Menifee Lakes residents, with the title "Welcome to UGLY Menifee" and featuring photos of dead turf and unkempt landscaping.

This is a portion of the flier being distributed by a resident of Menifee Lakes.

"I've been in on meetings with the HOA, Vince (Valdez) of Valley-Wide and the City," Sjostrom said. "I've heard all the stories. Basically, somebody needs to sit down and figure this out.

"Valley-Wide is responsible from the curb up to 12 feet. After that, it's the HOA. But the area by the golf course is wider and is partly the HOA. The City is saying they need to run a whole separate water line for that area with a separate meter and charge that to the HOA, that Valley-Wide can't use tax money for that portion. That made Valley-Wide mad.

"The City wants to take the whole thing and kick Valley-Wide out of the city. Valley-Wide said, 'Well, if you're going to do that, we'll just stop the project and leave everything the way it is.' "

That, of course is one man's interpretation of the situation. The City and Valley-Wide have their own, differing interpretations, and therein lies the problem. Since a July 6 response to Valley-Wide's second submission of plans that included additional requirements, there has been no official correspondence between the two sides.

"It shouldn't be this complicated," said Dean Wetter, general manager of Valley-Wide. "It was simply a maintenance project to replace landscaping to comply with the governor's order. When the City contacted us to see what was up, we put together a pretty extensive set of drawings. Since then, it's been one obstacle after another.

This graphic depicts changes planned by Valley-Wide in the areas in question.

"The City and its Community Services Department has done similar projects on the west side, such as the median project on Sun City Boulevard and Cherry Hills Boulevard. They didn't have the same amount of comments requiring changes to their plans that we have. They have conducted a very detailed review that was never done on any of our projects before."

Wetter also said the contractor, Adame Landscape, Inc., began work on June 22 when it received approval of a traffic control plan and an encroachment permit, which he said Valley-Wide and Adame "understood that meant we were good to go. Adame knows how these things work and that's what they said was needed."

Robert Lennox, director of community services for the City of Menifee, said the Menifee Lakes project is much different than the Sun City median project, which also was performed by Adame Landscape, Inc.

"That project involved construction of a new median," Lennox said. "There was no existing landscaping and no share of property with an HOA.

"Construction cannot start until plans have been approved. They received an encroachment permit prior to approval of the plans. They may have interpreted that to mean they could begin work, but that isn't the case."

Lennox said it was difficult to describe how far apart the two sides are in the latest set of plans reviewed by the City.

"There are probably two or three outstanding items, but they are big items," he said. "We could furnish them with a variance for an agreement with the HOA to grant them the easement and have them pay for the maintenance. That would solve one of the problems. But there has been no response to our latest comments."

Through circulation of the "Ugly Menifee" flier and the comments on social media, members of the Menifee Lakes HOA have made it clear they can't understand why the current taxes and HOA dues they pay are not enough to keep the area around their neighborhood clean and attractive.

This supposed stalemate was brought up at the Aug. 3 City Council meeting by council member Lesa Sobek. Her motion to have city staff address the issue at an upcoming meeting and invite Valley-Wide representatives to attend was passed unanimously.

City Manager Rob Johnson said he plans to place that on the agenda for a meeting of the Parks, Recreation and Trails Commission, which is scheduled to meet next on Aug. 18. He said he would invite Valley-Wide officials to attend so a dialogue could take place.

"I will make that offer and I hope they accept it," Johnson said. "Five residents came in to share their concerns about what the city's role is, and we explained it. They seemed to understand, but they're still concerned.

"The City has issues in this, too. I'm not saying we're perfect. But every contractor has to go through a process with every project. This is complicated because Valley-Wide is another piece of the puzzle."

Johnson was asked whether he thought an eventual ruling by LAFCO would end the confusion and controversy once and for all.

"It would be helpful if that's the answer, but that's the the future and we don't know what will happen," he said.

Menifee Lakes residents are upset about the dead turf at the entrance to the country club and golf course. Menifee 24/7 photo: Doug Spoon