Niche River Articles

Shenanigans in Our Foothills

By Frank Schiavone

A controversial project is proposed for the foothills above Alta Loma where the Carrari’s Christmas Tree Farm once stood. The project applicant is Gary Miller, that’s Congressman Gary Miller of Diamond Bar. The project will lie at 3000 feet or higher and will be seen from virtually anywhere in the City. It will back up to slopes that rise dramatically up the Peak of Cucamonga. To the south are steep, heavily vegetated ravines. There’s only one long, winding exit out for future residents and it’s gated to keep us riff-raff out. A lot of people are upset about it. Now I happily admit that I am an environmentalist, but you don’t have to be a land conservationist to be angry about this project development. Congressman Miller’s project requires some good old-fashioned Kentucky mountaintop removal with the “overburden” and “spoil” pushed into canyons burying intermittent streams, a waterfall, and rare plants and animals.

Before Congressman Miller can build, however, he has some initial problems to overcome. First, he needs a General Plan revision. You see the City of Rancho Cucamonga’s Planning Department says there are only 17 buildable acres up there. He needs 94 acres for his 110 homes (ranging in price to four million dollars, yes, you read that correctly). Next, he needs the City to amend their Hillside Ordinance because it explicitly states, “…building on slopes in excess of 30% is prohibited. ” Apparently, the terrain is a bit too steep and the people hired to assess his property could not get to all of it because they didn’t have “mountaineering equipment”. Zoning will also need to be changed. Forget half-acre horse properties that are the rule. An exception needs to be made for Congressman Miller so he can squeeze several of his homes on quarter-acre lots.

Last but not least, Congressman Miller will need to marginalize the growing opposition he is encountering. He’ll leave that up to Ken Ryan, his public relations guy. Now Mr. Ryan has some experience in this area and instructs other developers in the best ways to counter “extremists” like me. Congressman Gary Miller’s problems may seem pretty intractable to folks like you and me, but when you’re the people’s representative anything is possible. Congressman Miller is accustomed to getting what he wants.

There is a host of other issues that will need to be addressed not the least of which are fire risk, erosion, and the irreversible damage we are doing to our environment. Never mind those pesky critters and scrub that are rapidly disappearing from our foothills, washes and consciousness. Besides, Congressman Miller reassures us, there are no plans to develop his remaining land - probably because the slopes range from 50-80%. To address the extreme fire hazard, Ken Ryan indicates that Congressman Miller will contribute $750,000 towards a new fire station but he’s unclear about how this actually reduces the ill effects of the project or the threat to life and limb.

Nonetheless, Congressman Miller fervently believes his project is “safe and sound” and needed to solve the mini-mansion shortage in Alta Loma. He’s moving full steam ahead. Unfortunately for Congressman Miller, the community is not buying his PR firm’s slick presentations, misinformation and the lure that his new “Beverly Hills of Rancho Cucamonga” will bring to us rubes.

In all honesty, had Congressman Miller’s proposal not been so onerous it would not have raised much ire. But a tract map with 110 subdivisions is worth a heck of a lot more than one with 34 subdivisions, so his motivation is clear.

Let’s all hope that reason will eventually prevail and that this project is drastically scaled back and that it is consistent with our community. In a perfect world, the property should remain open space but we don’t live in a perfect world. No one is advocating that Congressman Miller’s economic rights be stripped from him. People just want to be treated respectfully and fairly.

Abraham Lincoln, perhaps our greatest president, believed government should not be just “of the people” and “by the people” but “for the people”. Let’s all pray that Rancho’s decision makers have the moral courage to heed these powerful words.

Copyright © 2008 Frank Schiavone

Frank Schiavone
fschiavone@verizon.net