General Plan - Moreno Valley

CHAPTER 2 – COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENTMORENO VALLEY GENERAL PLAN2. COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT ELEMENT2.1 Land Use2.1.1. SettingLand use within Moreno Valley has beenprimarily residential in character. Singlefamilyresidential neighborhoods dominatethe western half of the City. Residences arescattered throughout the largely rural easternportion of the planning area. The MorenoValley Mall at Towngate and other majorcommercial developments are located in thenorthwestern part of the City along StateRoute 60 and Sunnymead Boulevard, and inthe central portion of the City, alongAlessandro and Perris Boulevards.Single-family residenceIndustrial development is located in thesouthwest corner of Moreno Valley betweenKitching Street and Heacock Street. Thearea between Alessandro Boulevard andMarch Air Reserve Base contains industrialuses and several City of Moreno Valleyfacilities, including city hall, the public safetybuilding and the animal shelter. There aretwo full-service hospitals in Moreno Valley.The Moreno Valley Community Hospital ison the north side of Iris Avenue, west ofOliver Street. The Riverside CountyMedical Center is located on the northwestcorner of Cactus Avenue and Nason Street.2.1.2. Neighboring Land UsesThe Riverside County Waste ResourcesManagement District owns and operates theBadlands Sanitary Landfill at the eastern endof Ironwood Avenue. Riverside CountyParks and Open Space District maintains anatural open space area in the hills aroundthe landfill.The San Jacinto Wildlife Area is located inthe southeastern corner of the planning area.It was created by the State of California asmitigation for loss of wildlife habitat resultingfrom construction of the State Water Project.Additional habitat area continued to beadded to encompass adjacent wetlands andto provide a corridor to the Badlands. Itcontains open grasslands and natural andman-made wetlands that attract and supportmigratory birds and resident wildlife. Birdwatching is a popular activity in the area as itis a major stop on the Pacific flyway.Part of the San Jacinto Wildlife Area is withinthe historic floodplain of the San JacintoRiver and is subject to periodic flooding. Theresulting floodwater, known as Mystic Lake,has been known to inundate the area formonths or years at a time.The Lake Perris Recreation Area, operatedby the California Department of Parks andRecreation, is situated along the southernboundary of the City. Visitors to the parkenjoy boating, fishing, picnicking andcamping. Riverside County operates BoxSprings Mountain Park along the northwestcity boundary. It is a passive park suited tohiking and horseback riding.March Air Reserve Base, located southwestof the city limits, was once an active dutyaerial refueling and deployment base. Withover 9,000 military and civilian employees,the base played a major role in the localeconomy. The base was realigned fromactive duty to reserve status on April 1,Page 2-1 July 11, 2006