Murrieta Planning Commission recommends local historic designation for Murrieta Hot Springs Resort
Commissioners voted 4-0 on Oct. 14 to recommend that the City Council designate the 1902-founded resort a local cultural resource, which would make it eligible for a Mills Act property tax contract. The council has the final say.
The Murrieta Planning Commission voted 4-0 on Oct. 14 to ask the City Council to name the Murrieta Hot Springs Resort a local cultural resource. That status would make the property eligible for a Mills Act contract.
Commissioner Michael DeSena made the motion and Vice Chair Joe Wojcik seconded it, according to the meeting minutes. Commissioner Michael LaPaglia was absent.
The commission also recommended that the council treat the action as exempt from state environmental review.
What the designation would do
A staff report says the designation would give formal recognition to the resort's historic significance. Under the city's development code, a property must be designated or listed on a state or national register before it can receive a Mills Act contract.
Created by the state in 1972, the Mills Act offers a preservation incentive. Owners who sign a contract lasting at least 10 years commit to maintaining, restoring and rehabilitating a historic property, and in exchange the property may be assessed for taxes under a different method, the report says.
The Riverside County assessor calculates that value using state formulas, so the city neither sets nor guarantees any tax savings, according to the report.
Both the designation and a proposed Mills Act contract go next to the City Council. The council's Nov. 17 agenda includes a resolution designating the resort, with the proposed contract attached.
History of the site
A historic resource evaluation attached to the staff report, dated July 3, 2026, identifies the property, at 39405 Murrieta Hot Springs Road, by its historic name, Guenther's Murrieta Mineral Hot Springs. It lists the owner as EPR Springs II LLC.
The evaluation says Fritz Guenther bought 200 acres with four mineral springs in 1902 and, with his sons, built a resort aimed at health and recovery.
It dates the site's historically significant era from 1902 to 1933. Buildings from that span show Monterey and Spanish Revival styles, among them the Monterey Hotel, according to the evaluation.
The Guenthers sold the resort at the end of 1969, the evaluation says.
Later owners included the Alive Polarity commune, and Calvary Ministries held it from 1995 to 2020. A Calvary Bible college operated there during that period, according to the evaluation.
The evaluation concludes the property qualifies for listing on the National Register of Historic Places and the California Register of Historical Resources, as well as for city designation.
At the hearing
The item was presented by Community Services Director Brian Ambrose and Deputy City Manager Scott Agajanian. An architectural historian and a managing partner speaking for the resort answered commissioners' questions, the minutes say.
One member of the public spoke, in favor of the designation.
Under a 2015 city ordinance, the Planning Commission took over the duties of a former historic preservation committee, including recommending which properties should be designated cultural resources, the report says.
The commission also discussed new dates for its November meetings because of holiday scheduling conflicts.
