Temecula introduces $900-an-acre kangaroo rat habitat fee on 4-1 vote; council approves Solana Winchester settlement

The Temecula City Council voted 4-1 on Oct. 13 to introduce an ordinance that would raise the fee most developers pay toward regional Stephens' kangaroo rat habitat conservation by $400, to $900 for each gross acre.

Council Member Stewart made the motion and Council Member Kalfus seconded it. Mayor Jessica Alexander voted no, according to the action minutes, which do not give her reasons.

The fee

The Riverside County Habitat Conservation Agency approved a new fee study July 9 and asked member jurisdictions to update their local rules by January 2027, a staff report says. Temecula is one of 11 members, and the agency oversees about 46,000 acres of reserves in Riverside County, according to the report.

Under Ordinance No. 2026-08, projects that cannot handle their mitigation on site would pay $900 per gross acre. A single-family home on one legal lot, permitted to an individual owner and outside any subdivision or tract, would pay $250.

Agricultural development would pay $500 per gross acre.

The ordinance also deletes a code section requiring applicants to submit a biological survey, which the report says is no longer required.

The report says the species is now listed as threatened by both the state and federal governments after its federal listing was lowered from endangered. It calls the fee a critical source of money for the agency's work.

Lawsuit settled

City Attorney Peter Thorson reported that the council, meeting in closed session, unanimously approved a settlement in Solana Winchester LLC v. City of Temecula, a Riverside Superior Court case. The action minutes do not list the terms.

Alcohol permit ordinance adopted

The Oct. 13 consent calendar, approved 5-0, included the action minutes of the Sept. 22 meeting. Those minutes show the council adopted Ordinance No. 2026-07, which creates an Alcohol Use Permit for businesses that serve or sell alcohol, by a 4-0 vote with Mayor Pro Tem Rahn abstaining.

The ordinance's second reading had been on the Sept. 22 consent calendar. The minutes do not say why Rahn abstained.

Other actions

• The council voted 4-0, with Rahn again abstaining, to approve an Old Town wayfinding sign program. A staff report says $500,000 was set aside in 2022 under a pandemic-era reinvestment program, and the plan includes a public parking sign for the city garage, new and replacement pedestrian directories, and signs guiding drivers to parking and City Hall.
• On consent, the council awarded 3P Construction Inc. a $2,049,155 contract to upgrade streetlight and traffic signal communications.
• On a 5-0 vote, the council accepted an update on its opposition to San Diego Gas & Electric's proposed Golden Pacific Powerlink and approved public outreach as needed. A staff report describes the project as a 500-kilovolt line that would cross southern Temecula.