Murrieta council introduces hillside development ordinance 3-1 after two other motions fail

The Murrieta City Council voted 3-1 on Sept. 15 to introduce an ordinance rewriting the city's hillside development standards, after two earlier motions on the item failed.

Council Member Cindy Warren made the successful motion and Mayor Pro Tem Ron Holliday seconded it. Mayor Jon Levell joined them. Council Member Lori Stone voted no, and Council Member Lisa DeForest was absent, according to the meeting minutes.

The motion introduced Ordinance No. 638-26 with one amendment, which the minutes record as: "Add the drop-dead date of the Ordinance if a better solution is not found by December 31, 2028."

The failed motions

Holliday first moved to introduce the ordinance as presented and make that date a deadline, after which parcels smaller than 5 acres would be exempt unless another solution was found. The minutes say the motion died without a second.

Stone then moved to introduce the ordinance and exempt any parcel of 3.5 acres or less. Levell seconded. That motion failed 2-2, with Warren and Holliday opposed.

One member of the public spoke during the hearing and asked the city to give leeway on parcels of 5 acres or less, the minutes say.

What the ordinance changes

A staff report by Senior Planner Chris Tracy says the city's hillside standards date to the development code adopted in 1998 and have changed little since 2003. They applied citywide, and a hillside map used in project review was never written into the code.

The ordinance adopts a formal Hillside Overlay Map built from geographic information system data. The report says the standards, including a 25% slope threshold, would apply only inside mapped hillside areas.

Other changes described in the report:

• A standard way to measure the height of buildings on slopes.
• Slope calculations based on city mapping data, with a computer-aided drafting alternative when an applicant contests the city's figure.
• Design rules for hillside retaining walls, including earth-tone colors, terracing and landscaping between terraces where feasible.
• Clarified requirements for landscaping and for fuel modification.

The draft also separates undeveloped land from land already developed or disturbed. In previously developed areas, minor work such as pools, spas and flatwork could skip a hillside permit when grading stays at or under 50 cubic yards, the report says. Accessory structures at least 1,000 square feet in size would still need one.

Staff told the council it could raise that grading threshold to between 200 and 500 cubic yards. The minutes do not record a change to the threshold.

The report says the council asked staff to review the hillside rules at a goal-setting workshop on March 29, 2022. Since then the proposal has gone through a community workshop, three Planning Commission workshops, three commission hearings and six council workshops.

A citywide update of retaining wall rules is to be handled in a separate ordinance, the report says.

The council's Oct. 6 agenda listing on Legistar includes a second reading and adoption of the hillside ordinance as Item 7.

In other business, the council voted 4-0 for changes to the capital improvement budget for fiscal 2026-27.