COLTON - City officials will
develop a habitat conservation plan that will make way for
a mixed-use development called the Superblock without including
the area's historic Hermosa Gardens cemetery.
The Colton City Council voted 6-1 to leave the cemetery
out of its plan to provide a habitat zone for the Delhi
Sands flower-loving fly, part of its push to develop the
shopping area planned north of Interstate 10.
The council will allow Inland Memorial Inc., the cemetery
operator, to submit its own habitat plan for the endangered
fly to U.S. Fish and Wildlife. City officials plan to work
with them during the process.
Councilman Richard DeLaRosa voted against separating the
cemetery out, saying that Colton has a responsibility to
include Inland Memorial in its plans because Hermosa Gardens
is on city-owned land
"Once we separate, that's pretty much it," he
said. "What we're going to do is allow nothing to happen
out there."
The fly issue has caused some animosity between Inland Memorial
and the city.
Inland Memorial, which has a 55-year-lease on the land to
operate the cemetery, wants to expand to the site's undeveloped
20 acres. General Manager Billy Pratt has said that without
expansion, Hermosa Gardens will be out of room in three
years.
The city wants to set aside about 11 acres of the Meridian
Avenue cemetery for fly habitat to meet part of the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife's requirement for developing in the area.
Wilfrid Lemann, an attorney for Inland Memorial, said the
operators have spent millions of dollars upgrading the once-rundown
Hermosa Gardens since it signed the lease in 1999.
Lemann said a separate habitat plan might cause financial
hardship for the cemetery if operators run into issues with
Fish and Wildlife.
"We have a contract with the city and we've lived up
to the contract," he said. "But it is imperative
for us to get the maximum benefit from the contract and
for us to get the maximum benefit ... we have to work with
the city."
Gary Grossich, of Citizens for Colton First, a group leading
an effort to recall the mayor, said his organization is
fighting to get an exemption to the federal species endangered
act for the cemetery and urged the city to join the effort.
"The citizens of this city feel the cemetery is dedicated
and protected property. You are the protectors," he
told the council. "You need to honor the commitment
the city made to Hermosa Gardens and Inland Memorial."
Assistant City Manager Mark Nuaimi said a 2004 agreement
signed by the previous owner of Inland Memorial calls for
the company to work with the city on the habitat plan, but
more recent negotiations on a compromise have failed.
The fly issue has stymied the city for a decade and thwarted
efforts to develop the west end, he said.
"You've lost a decades worth of economic engine for
this community," he told the council. "This community
has lost and lost and lost repeatedly to the tune of millions
of dollars."
The majority of land in the Superblock area is fly habitat,
but the city still can develop it if it provides a different
50 acres north of I-10 as alternative habitat for the insect.
Councilman Vincent Yzaguirre said the city is trying to
work with the cemetery and dismissed rumors about setting
aside some land for conservation.
Compromise for Delhi Sands flower-loving fly leaves out
historic ... "We're not trying to build on the cemetery,"
he said. "If the cemetery believes it can make a better
(habitat conservation) plan with Fish and Wildlife, then
let them do it."
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