The long-planned commercial development of The Triangle in Murrieta—64 acres where Interstates 15 and 215 meet—is on hold yet again pending the outcome of a lawsuit that the property owners have brought against the city.
Attorneys for Domenigoni-Barton Properties filed suit June 17 in Riverside County Superior Court. In the civil case, the City of Murrieta is accused of breach of good faith and fair dealing.
A news release issued June 18 by Domenigoni-Barton Properties’ attorney, Saul Jaffe, stated:
“Before the Triangle project can break ground, the city must sign an amended development agreement. But city officials are refusing to do so – even though they are legally obligated to sign under the City Council approval – unless the Domenigoni family agrees to fund additional city responsibilities that were not part of the project approvals.
“Specifically, city officials want the family to buy Murrieta a new $1-million fire engine, pay an extra $500,000 in fees and give nearly 3.5 acres of the Triangle site to the city at below-market prices.”
By press time on June 24, Murrieta City Manager Rick Dudley had yet to respond to a request for comment about the legal action.
Plans to develop the property as a mall date back to the early decades before Murrieta was incorporated as a city—to when the County of Riverside approved a development agreement.
In October 2013, after several rounds of public hearings, Murrieta City Council voted 3-2 in favor of an amended specific plan for the Triangle in order to bring it up to current municipal development codes.
Property owners, which include the Domenigoni family and other southwest Riverside County investors, say the open-air retail and commercial district of shops, restaurants and entertainment venues, property owners will create thousands of new, permanent jobs for area residents.
Additionally, their attorney stated, the Domenigoni family agreed to pay more than $15 million for improvements to area roads, intersections, traffic signals and for various city services, such as police and fire protection.
“We were left with no choice but to take action to preserve our rights under the agreement,” said Andy Domenigoni. “As part of our deal with the city, we agreed to make over $15 million in road and other improvements to mitigate the impacts of our project, but now the city is seeking another $4 million in new items that have no connection or nexus to the Triangle. We remain in discussions with City Hall and we’re hoping Murrieta will uphold its own City Council’s approval so we can begin work on the Triangle to bring new jobs and revenues to the city.”
February emails between Assistant Murrieta City Manager Jim Holston, who has since retired, and Domenigoni indicate that the city is seeking a parcel of the Triangle land to construct a loop ramp at Interstate 15 and Murrieta Hot Springs Road before it will sign off on the development agreement. This would be for public improvements related to the project in addition to those the city has already provided.
Holston wrote that the city would drop its request for an additional fire truck and park fees if Domenigoni concede to that.
Domenigoni claims the city wants the parcel at below-market value. Further, his attorney stated that renegotiating the development agreement to include the concessions would violate California law.
Assistant Murrieta City Attorney Barry Schultz countered that in a letter dated May 14. According to Schultz, the city has been requesting to the ability to purchase the parcel at appraised fair market value.
“The city has not requested any property be acquired without compensation,” Schultz wrote.
Schultz went on to contend that certain California and Murrieta city laws do allow the development agreement to be amended with mutual written agreement of the parties.