Manhole Builders Rejected By Planning Commission

The issues around the prior approval of the Manhole Builder's Building and Use Plan should remain in the forefront of the Citizens Attention. The Manhole Builders have yet another appeal to the City Council to have their plan approved, in spite of serious objections of the South Cost Air Quality Control Board, and the neighbors of the proposed Cement Manhole Molding Facility.

Lets review:

First the area is or was a working farm or ranch. It has flooded or become swamped several times in the past 50 years by raising groundwater. It is up wind from the Elementary School and other residential areas. It is across the river from a proposed county park development known as Colton Regional Park. The roads to the property are not of sufficient class or rating to handle heavy traffic or heavy vehicles.

How the project made it through the Grand Terrace Planning Department included a Environmental Impact Declaration, which received a Negative Declaration, (Which Means it Passed, Negative being Good in this case). The problem with this is that the paperwork used for this Declaration was a copy of a filing for a gas station, not the Manhole Builder's Property or Plan. If it were not for the people constantly asking the city for documents this would have just passed through the Planning Department, and Planning Commission, and the City Council.

The Past posts on Manhole Builders included letters from South Coast Air Quality Control District, and the bad Application or Environmental Impact Mitigation Study. If you want copies of these documents you can either email me, and I'll send them to you as an attachment, or do a search on this blog.. Use the search box at the top of the blog page put in Manhole and you will find the history of posts on this subject.

It is Gramp's opinion that this project got a nod from the City Manager, and City Staff went through the motions and were going to facilitate the business owner as a result of Tom's Nod. The Tom Schwab hired or appointed Traffic Engineer, City Engineer, and everyone else hired to serve at the pleasure of Tom Schwab doing their least best effort in providing services, true assessments, for the citizens of this city or the businesses trying to locate here.

The City Planning Department, The City of Grand Terrace, and the individuals hired by or under contract to the City should be sued by the Manhole Builders as they have misrepresented the acceptability of use of that piece of property for their intended use. They under assessed the needed improvements to roads and public facilities for the desired business use. They filed and approved improper documents. This of course costs the business owners a bit of cash.

Yes Citizens, you should have to pay too. It is YOUR government. You aren't insisting that the City Manager be Fired, You aren't insisting that the City Planning Department Get their act together. You aren't insisting that Ethical Contract Practices are used. YOU/WE are at fault in this too. We continue to accept the No Bid Development of the Senior Villas, the Town Center, and the OAC area... These Tom Schwab Legacy Building Pie in the Sky Plans are going to continue to fester as cancers to our town unless they are stopped, and their perpetrators are dealt with.

What to do now.

I suggest strongly that the property be purchased from Manhole Builders and donated to the County Regional Park System. It could be used as an Equestrian/Bike Center and Campground for the future Santa Ann River Trail System. When the ground water swamps the property the facility could be closed until the water table drops and the land dries out. I have made such a recommendation to the Wetlands Conservancy and the County. What have you done?