DATE OF NOTICE: May 18, 2026DATE OF DECISION: May 28, 2026
CITY OF MURRIETADIRECTOR’S DETERMINATION - NOTICE OF INTENT TO APPROVE
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN for the following project. Should you have any concerns with the determinations made as described below, please contact the Planner assigned to this project.
CASE NO.: Development Plan Permit (DP) 2023-00055APPLICANT: Homewood SuitesHSM, LLCSashant Patel
PROPOSAL: Development Plan Permit (DP) to construct a 94,570 square-foot, six-story, 80’ – 6” tall hotel with 130 rooms, which is oriented to face the privately maintained street with landscape buffering between it and the private street. Vehicular access is provided by a single shared access point from Makena Avenue. This access point leads to the internal drive aisles surrounding the building, with parking provided along the outer perimeter of the project site. The Project will include 136 parking spaces, including 77 standard spaces, six (6) accessible spaces, five (5) Clean Air Vehicle spaces comprised of electric vehicle charging stations, 34 electric vehicle-ready spaces, 14 electric vehicle capable spaces, and seven (7) bicycle spaces. Of the 136 total parking spaces, 24 parking spaces will be located off-site on an adjacent property (APN: 392-290-054) per a shared parking agreement recorded between the owners of both properties. Significant landscaping is located around the site’s perimeter, incorporated as diamonds and landscape islands throughout the parking fields, and adjacent to the building, with a decorative stamped and colored retaining wall along the westerly property line that will range from five (5) to fifteen (15) feet in height. There will also be a retaining wall along the northerly property line that will range from a half-foot (0.5”) tall to five and a half feet (5’ – 6”) tall with a six (6) foot decorative masonry wall located on top. The parking areas will be separated from Makena Avenue by a fourteen (14) foot landscape buffer and a one (1) to ten (10) foot retaining wall, which will screen cars from the view of the street. In total, the Project will provide approximately 20% landscaping throughout the entire project site and will utilize a shared project WQMP basin located off-site which will collect and manage runoff as designed and will connect to all utilities - water, natural gas, electricity, sewer, and telecommunications - adjacent to the project site within Makena Avenue all located on a 1.98-acre parcel and is comprised of Assessor’s Parcel Numbers (APN): 392-290-053 (the “Project).LOCATION: Parcel 2 of PM 37442, located on the northwesterly side of MakenaAvenue, east of Antelope Road and south of Baxter Road.(APN: 392-290-053)
CONTACT: Nicholas ThiessenAssociate Planner1 Town SquareMurrieta, CA 92562 [Nthiessen@MurrietaCA.gov]Nthiessen@MurrietaCA.gov [Nthiessen@MurrietaCA.gov]Comments received by email on the project will be accepted
PRELIMINARY PROJECT DETERMINATION:
The City conducted a review of the Project, and the Development Services Director or their appointee made a preliminary determination to approve the project consistent with the City’s Municipal Code and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) as provided in the Project’s applicable Findings. The City will consider all comments before a final decision is made on the proposed Development Plan (DP) 2023-00055.
PRELIMINARY ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINATION:
The City of Murrieta conducted a preliminary environmental review of the project and the City Planner (On behalf of the Director) has made the following preliminary environmental determination pursuant CEQA Guidelines:
Addendum to a Previously Adopted Mitigated Negative Declaration:
An Addendum to the previous Initial Study and Mitigated Negative Declaration (IS/MND) was prepared for the project in compliance with section 15164 of California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). No substantial changes are proposed in the project which would result in new significant environmental effects, no new circumstances under which the project is undertaken which would result in new significant environmental effects, and no new information of substantial importance, where the project would result in more significant effects on the environment than what was previously analyzed. The Addendum provides an analysis detailing compliance with CEQA. An Addendum was prepared for the project and all mitigation measures from the adopted Mitigated Negative Declaration dated April 2018 will be implemented and as a result there will be no significant environmental impacts.
YOUR OPTIONS FOR SUBMITTING COMMENTS AND/OR REQUEST FOR A PUBLIC HEARING:Any person may submit written comments on the preliminary project determination no later than 10 days after the date of this notice (May 28, 2026).
A public hearing at the Planning Commission can be requested no later than May 28, 2026 for consideration of the project application.
State law provides that if you challenge the City’s action on this project in court you may be limited to raising only those issues you or someone else raised at the public hearing (if requested with this application) or described in this notice, or in written correspondence delivered to, or prior to the public hearing (if requested with this application).
If the last day to file a request for a public hearing on the above application falls on a legal holiday recognized by the city or on a Saturday or Sunday, the following business day shall be deemed the last day to file the request.
Comments on the project application and/or a request for a Public Hearing may be submitted to following:City of Murrieta, Development Services Department, Attn: Nicholas Thiessen, Associate Planner, (951) 461-6414, 1 Town Square, Murrieta, CA 92562 or NThiessen@MurrietaCA.gov [NThiessen@MurrietaCA.gov].
Reasonable Accommodations for Viewing Access: The City is in full compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in all respects. Documents and related preliminary findings for this project will be available upon request. If you require a reasonable accommodation to review the documents and related findings, please contact the City Clerk’s Department at (951) 461-6031 forty-eight (48) hours prior to the notice of intent to approve/deny end of review date, which is May 28, 2026 for this project. The 48-hour notification period allows the City to make reasonable arrangements to ensure that you have access to the materials requested and related findings for this project.
The Press-EnterprisePublished: 5/18/26
