Concerns over Proposed Housing Projects in Temecula Valley Wine Country

Developers have created a stir in the Temecula Valley Wine Country, proposing to build hundreds of homes among the vines after Riverside County adopted a plan emphasizing entertainment, winemaking and growing grapes.

While Riverside County Supervisor Jeff Stone — architect of the blueprint to guide development in the area — maintains “you’re going to see rolling hills of vines for as far as the eye can see,” some worry there will be rooftops as far as the eye can see, too.

What’s generating the buzz is a Mount Palomar Winery plan to construct nearly 500 single-family homes, as well as efforts to retool an earlier-approved project called Twelve Oaks that featured more than 200 houses near Lake Skinner.

The proposals come barely half a year after the March approval of the 17,910-acre Temecula Valley Wine Country Community Plan.

“Before the ink is dry, a couple of large landowners are going, in my opinion, in exactly the opposite direction of what we are all trying to protect,” said Dan Stephenson, an influential landowner and managing partner in Europa Village, which borders Mount Palomar Winery.

Stone said he’s concerned, too.


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