During the past two MLS Marketing meetings we have been fortunate to have guest speakers presenting their position on the much debated Liberty Quarry. This is a very important issue for our community as the quarry would be a neighbor of ours for the next 80 years, it’s operation would impact our lives in myriad ways and the hole in our mountain would remain long after Temecula returns to a desert wasteland.
SRCAR Directors have taken tours of facilities, spoken with numerous parties regarding the quarry, read volumes of city & LAFCO documents and have brought in the two most relevant groups to provide information to our members – Granite Construction and The City of Temecula.
Unfortunately a few of our members mistook the Marketing meeting for the Jerry Springer show and took the opportunity to show how mis-informed they are and how rude they can be. This rudeness was aimed both at our guest speakers and at fellow Realtors who had the temerity to hold opinions that differed from the great un-informed.I realize these members will not read this post – based on their actions and opinions, it’s apparent they don’t read much. Certainly they have never read Article 15 of the Realtor Code of Ethics.
EVERY participant in the Liberty Quarry debate has been guilty of fabricating facts, stretching the truth and outright lying at some point during the debate. However, for sheer volume, most blatant lying and attempted intimidation, the top honor is unanimously bestowed on the anti-quarry faction (not to be confused with the City of Temecula). In my years of research on a variety of issues, I have never been subjected to the vitriol and obfuscation I have witnessed surrounding this issue. Simply having a neutral stance, trying to ascertain the facts or trying to resolve legal issues qualifies you for a tongue lashing from these quarry bashers, most of whom are blissfully ignorant of the facts either pro or con.
We continue to encourage our Members to get ALL the facts on this issue so you can make an INFORMED decision. Take the Granite Construction tour, take the SDSU tour, talk with the City and with our elected representatives.
We understand this is an emotional issue but that doesn’t mean professionalism and ethics can be ignored – especially in AOR sanctioned meetings where your actions reflect on this Association. The mark of professionals is that you can disagree without being disagreeable. If you can’t aspire to that goal, then keep your disagreeable ass away from settings wherein professionals are trying to educate themselves.
THE VERDICT IS FINALLY HERE…we know longer need to question whether or not the proposed Liberty Quarry would have a positive or negative effect.
The below quote is extracted from Riverside County Planning Department’s cover letter for the release of the Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) on Liberty Quarry. This statement is also contained in the DEIR itself, written by Granite’s consultants:
“DEIR No. 475 (Liberty Quarry) determined that the proposed project would result in significant and unavoidable impacts to Air Quality and Traffic/Transportation, which cannot be mitigated to below a level of significance. In addition, the DEIR determined that the proposed project would contribute to cumulatively considerable and unavoidable impacts to Air Quality (criteria pollutants and greenhouse gases), Biological Resources (wildlife movement), Traffic, Transportation, and Utilities (water supply), which cannot be mitigated to below a level of significance. As a result of the potential significant and unavoidable impacts, adoption of a Statement of Overriding Considerations will be required in order for the project to be approved.”
Read this twice if necessary…No more debates….please!
The Temecula Valley is currently known for its clean air, wineries and destination tourists. The question now is: What affect might these significant and unavoidable impacts which cannot be mitigated to below a level of significance have on our economy as a whole, our housing and commercial industries, and/or loss of tourism revenue currently generating over $600 million/yr. resulting in $23 million/yr. in state, county and local taxes, and employing over 6,000 people? (Figures from commissioned 2008 Study by Dean Runyan & Associates using 2007 figures)
Note: as others have pointed out, and as should be obvious, the Dean Runyan Associates 2008 Study commissioned by the Temecula Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau takes a “snapshot” of economic activity – again, relating solely to the day and destination tourism activities connected to the Vineyards, Music Festivals, Balloon Festival, etc., but NOT taking into account residential housing or commercial land values, or other major economic activities such as those conducted by The Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians or Abbot Laboratories/Boston Scientific/Guidant Corporation – as it existed in the period studied (e.g., Calendar Year 2007) WITHOUT the presence of the proposed “Liberty” Quarry. In other words, it is a “snapshot” of only one section of a much larger whole, the entirety of which will be negatively impacted by the “significant and unavoidable impacts [of the proposed "Liberty Quarry"] which cannot be mitigated to below a level of significance.”
That – the whole complex of currently in place, operating, and
profitable activities contained within the Temecula area – is what
is actually being placed “in harms way” and being placed at the risk of being severely compromised by the insertion into its midst of a major “mining-industrial complex”.
For those who wish to visit it, the website of Dean Runyan Associates is: “www.deanrunyan.com”. They (Dean Runyan Associates), as appears on their website, have served and/or currently serving with providing Regional Economic
Studies for, among others, the Sun Valley/Ketchum region in Central Idaho, the Fort Worth Metropolitan Area, and (of especial
interest to The Temecula Valley Winegrowers Association) the
Finger Lakes Wine Country region of upstate New York.