Menifee awaits outcome of lawsuit against City of Perris

By Doug Spoon, Editor

A Riverside Superior Court judge has set an Oct. 24 date for the latest court hearing in the City of Menifee’s lawsuit against the City of Perris.

The City of Menifee filed suit in July, seeking reversal of action taken by the City of Perris to prohibit commercial trucking on a stretch of Ethanac Road that is shared with Menifee on the border of both cities. Menifee previously designated that area an economic development corridor, which would allow the construction of industrial buildings and the existence of a truck route.

In the lawsuit, the City of Menifee accuses Perris of “failure to comply with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the California Vehicle Code, the California Planning and Zoning Law, and other applicable state and local laws.”

Menifee “seeks relief from Respondents’ hasty, ill-considered, and unlawful actions … and requests that the approvals be declared void and invalid, and that Respondents be mandated to set aside the Approvals and be permanently enjoined from taking any further action in furtherance of, or in implementation of, the Approvals,” according to court documents.

The City of Perris has argued that the existence of truck routes on Ethanac Road would result in poor air quality, noise and excess traffic.

In March, the Menifee City Council approved a zoning change that prohibits warehouses and truck routes in most sections of the southern economic border in the area of Scott Road, Haun Road and Antelope Road. At that time, it was determined that the Ethanac corridor was best suited to the city’s needs for warehousing and industrial buildings.