HESPERIA — Mayor Pro Tem Bill Holland said before any dirt is turned at the proposed Tapestry Project site, every detail of land use will have been examined with a fine-tooth comb.
Holland, who heads up the Tapestry Ad Hoc Committee with Councilman Paul Russ and three Hesperia staff members, said his group has been meeting with John Ohanian, director of
development for Terra Verde Group, the developers of the master-planned community in Summit Valley in southeast Hesperia.
“Not everyone speaks the language of an engineer, so we’re working with Trans Tech Consultants, (which) is helping us to review every aspect of the project,” Holland said. “So far, we’ve made some adjustments, like lowering some density and reconfiguring some traffic circulation. Everything is in flex-mode right now, nothing is in concrete."
“I think the biggest problem is going to be the traffic coming and going from all those new homes,” said Bob Goble, 64, as he stood in the parking lot of the Silverwood Country Store on Highway 138 near Summit Valley Road. “There’s tremendous congestion during the weekend, with people traveling up the mountain.”
Susan Kim, co-owner of the Japanese Fusion Sushi and Grill on Highway 138, said she hopes Tapestry brings in more business to her eatery that has been serving the area for about 10 years.
“We’re usually busy from March to September, and especially when school is out,” said Kim, as a train’s horn echoed in the distance “If there were no curves on Highway 138 coming from the freeway we’d have more traffic.”
Ohanian told the Daily Press that the project’s “circulation plan” calls for Caltrans to straighten out Highway 138, with the transportation agency ready for the bidding process.
Mike Alsmmour, 44, an employee at the country store, said the master-planned community may turn the Summit Valley area into a “big city and take away its country feel.”
Alsmmour was one of several residents who said they noticed that traffic congestion seemed to have been reduced in the entire area after the Ranchero Road Interchange project was completed in February.
City spokeswoman Rachel Molina said there are no more special meetings scheduled to discuss the project, but each Planning Commission meeting has time set aside for public comment.
According to Molina, the project will likely go before the Planning Commission sometime between April and June for approval, then on to the City Council 8 to 12 weeks later.
Ohanian told the Daily Press that even as the ad hoc committee works with Trans Tech to receive its findings, his group will quickly evaluate the information and suggestions in order to make the proposed adjustments to the project.
“We want to make sure we’re already prepared with answers before any report goes to the Planning Commission,” Ohanian said. “We also want every conversation to be played out before the general public so they can know exactly where we are in the process.”
Ohanian said his group also has met with various agencies that will be affected by the project, such as the Hesperia Recreation and Park District and the Hesperia Water District.
“All of our findings will be included in the final EIR (Environmental Impact Report) that will go to the commission and eventually to the City Council,” said Ohanian. “The city will probably have a standalone Tapesty meeting on the fourth Tuesday in May or June.”
Besides visiting with the consultant and city officials, Ohanian has spoken at various local meetings and conferences, sharing the multiple aspects of the group’s 9,365-acre, 19,000-plus home project, which if approved as expected would break ground by in a few years.
Ohanian said once his group goes through approvals, litigation and other delays, 2018 or the beginning of 2019 will see the first of 2,300 homes occupied in Phase 1 of the multi-phase project, which he said will take nearly 30 years to complete.
Terra Verde picked up the former Rancho Las Flores property — complete with its already approved entitlements — in a bankruptcy sale.
Goble, who has lived in the area for some 50 years, said he doesn’t see the Tapestry Project happening because “developers run out of money all the time.”
“It doesn’t fit here,” and “It’s not for the High Desert; it’s not for this area.” We Don't Want it here.