Canyon Lake Top 10 stories of 2021

1. COVID-19

COVID-19 was the Number 1 story of 2020, of course. How can it not still be the top Canyon Lake story for 2021 as well? Is it possible that when the Top 10 Stories of 2022 is written that this horrible pandemic will have moved on enough to at least move down the list a few spots?

Certainly, the pandemic is still on top of everybody’s everyday life. The vaccinations have helped stall the severity of the COVID-19 spread, but the variants keep popping up to give it new life.

First the Delta variant emerged, slowing the optimism for conquering the virus. Now, the Omicron variant, with its highly contagious aspects, is spreading at alarming rates. Canyon Lake people are being infected at record rates and 15 have died this year from the virus.

Events in Canyon Lake have routinely opened back up throughout the year, which has brought back a bit of normalcy, but COVID-19 continues to be disruptive and deadly. Even the fully vaccinated are being infected.

2. City Fire Dept.

After decades of contracting fire and emergency service to the County of Riverside Fire and Cal Fire, the City of Canyon Lake has gone where almost no cities in the county have gone. The city has established its own municipal fire department.

In February, the city hired Jeff LaTendresse out of retirement to create the new fire department. The interim Fire Chief had his marching orders…by Jan.1, have fully organized a from scratch fire department complete with personnel, equipment, vehicles, handbooks and facilities.

Now, 11 months later, the department will take over the city fire and emergency service for its residents.

The move is not only a fiscal move, but one where local control is where the city council and management think it ought to belong.

3. Ehrenkranz

Jordan Ehrenkranz

Canyon Lake City Councilmember Jordan Ehrenkranz, a long-time city and POA leader, died suddenly in May at the age of 87. He was serving as a member of the city council at the time of his death

“Our entire community mourns the loss of Jordan Ehrenkranz,” Mayor Kasey Castillo said. “He was an incredibly dedicated and beloved public servant. Canyon Lake is a better place because of his tireless work, and he will be deeply missed.”

Jordan served as the mayor of the City of Canyon Lake for three terms during his more than 12 years on the City Council. Prior to serving the city, he was on the board of the Canyon Lake Property Owners Association and was named president by his fellow board members three times.

Jordan and his wife Jennie were both extremely active in the community and have owned property in Canyon Lake for 50 years. They moved to the city as full-time residents 25 years ago. Jordan was a member or sponsor of many association clubs and events. To say he loved Canyon Lake is an understatement.

To honor the civic leader, the city began a service award in his name that it will give out annually to an individual in the community who emulates his service. The first Jordan Ehrenkranz Spirit of Canyon Lake Award was given to Bradley Morton earlier this month.

4. Sign Rules

After months of controversy and protests, the Canyon Lake Property Owners Association Board of Directors passed rule changes for election signs in POA common areas at its April board meeting.

As the rule changes were discussed over the previous several months, organized protests and petition signings were organized in opposition to rules that were being contemplated by the board to include signs and flags on vehicles, golf carts and boats.

A golf cart “parade” was organized that included carts that traversed the entire community in protest and ended in the Canyon Lake Town Center in front of the Canyon Lake POA corporate offices.

The new changes were eventually whittled down to election signs, the physical maximum size of signs and signs containing vulgar or obscene content. The rule changes also expanded the definition of a sign to include flags, posters and banners.

The rule changes were for signs that are placed in the Community Setback and Common Areas of the association. The setback is the area between the street, golf course or lake and a person’s property line.

Except for signs with vulgar or obscene content, the rules do not apply to signs that are placed within a member’s property.

5. Sierra Park N.

Canyon Lake voters approved $2.2 million at the annual CLPOA meeting to fund the development of the new Sierra Park North. With that OK, the Canyon Lake POA Board of Directors approved the funding authorized by the Ballot Measure.

Construction has begun on the massive park set in an area that was not being developed.

“We take a useless and under-utilized piece of land and turn it into a family park amenity,” Canyon Lake POA General Manager Eric Kazakoff said. “The CLPOA Board, Staff and the community are excited to bring this long-awaited amenity to Canyon Lake.”

The construction did not come without its hurdles. The vote approved $2.2 million for the project, including contingencies. The lowest bid came in at $2,255,700, which did not include the $325,000 needed for the Pump Track construction, which is a major component of the park.

The engineers and association staff have been able to trim expense through making changes in retaining walls and other aspects of the job to keep the project within budget.

The park’s main feature is a bicycle pump track which is being designed with a looped sequence of rollers and berms for bike riders and skateboarders. The track is designed to maximize the rider’s momentum, so it can be traversed with minimal pedaling.

Adjacent to the pump track is a playground and picnic table area, both of which are shaded. Restrooms and barbecues are part of the project as are a pedestrian path that goes through the park. Loop trails with fitness stations are also incorporated into the design.

6. Pot Approved

After having regularly passed ordinances that have tightened the use and sale of cannabis products in the city, the Canyon Lake City Council unanimously approved cannabis dispensaries to operate within its city limits at a special council meeting in September.

The special meeting of the City Council was held to listen to reports and citizen comments and to take action on the ordinance.

A draft ordinance allowing commercial cannabis dispensaries within the City of Canyon Lake was created by the city attorney which was used to replace the section in the Municipal Code that prohibits such sales.

Long before the State of California, in its November 2016 elections, legalized adult recreational use of marijuana in the state, past City Councils were proactive in creating city law prohibiting cannabis products from being sold in the city.

As to who will be approved to open the first dispensary in the city, City Attorney Steven Graham explained that it is based on a scoring system. Applicants will first be filtered based on who is qualified to apply by meeting the minimum threshold.

Of those who qualify, each applicant will be objectively evaluated, Steven said, and given scores based on who has the highest and best community benefits. The highest scoring applicant, he said, would be issued the first dispensary license. If more than one dispensary is approved by the city, the second-highest scoring applicant will be awarded the second license.

7. RV Facility Fire

Chaos abounded throughout Canyon Lake May 19 as a result of a major three-alarm fire at Canyon Lake Storage where 75 firefighters from four fire departments converged to put out the blaze that destroyed over 40 RVs being stored there.

Helicopters buzzed above the city, both from the fire departments and southern California television news stations. Streets within the city were blocked and bystanders flocked to the streets to view the massive plume of black smoke rising into the sky.

The fire began from unknown origin at about 2:30 p.m. The blaze grew rapidly and CalFire called upon assistance from fire departments in Corona, Murrieta and Riverside.

One of the 75 firefighters working the fire was injured and was being attended to by paramedics, according to CalFire. Powerlines in the area were down and Southern California Edison was on the scene. Approximately 100 homes were temporarily without power.

A special Breathing Support Unit was on scene as were 12 overhead personnel.

CalFire reported the fire fully contained as of 5:32 p.m. the evening of May 19.

8. Paralympics

Canyon Lake Paralympic rower Russell Gernaat and Los Angeles partner Laura Goodkind pushed hard in their three races in Tokyo in August, but failed to qualify for the finals where medals were awarded.

As the United States’ top rowing duo, making it to Tokyo was an extraordinary feat for the Canyon Lake athlete.

Russell competed in the PR2 Mix Doubles Scull rowing event, finished 10th, enjoyed the experience and is now focused on the 2024 Games in Paris.

Russell reflected on the progress he and Laura made during the last couple of years and how he is looking forward to being competitive for medals in the 2024 Paralympics in Paris.

“It’s a packed field, a lot of competition,” he said after his final race Saturday. “Brazil and Australia beat us by 20 seconds at the 2019 world championships, but not today, not yesterday. We’ve really closed that gap. So I feel good about our racing overall; we’ve come a long way and we’re still looking for more improvement. I definitely want to go to France and see if we can put a bid in for a medal.”

9. Halloween

Has there been a pent-up demand for so community fun like there was for Halloween this year? Events that had been canceled the previous year because of COVID-19 restrictions, were now scheduled again…and then some.

The COVID-19 infections were waning and appeared to be on their way out. Events were so plentiful in Canyon Lake they were spread out over the last two weekends of the month. Even private parties were opened up to the community and heavily attended.

Hundreds showed up to the annual Canyon Lake Chamber of Commerce Parade of Frights at the Canyon Lake Town Center.

The Canyon Lake Family Matters Club estimates that 1,000 attended its Halloween Carnival and Trunk or Treat.

Josh Steeber and his family invited the community to stop by their home tomorrow for a free night of CarnEvil fun and games. There were CarnEvil games, Rotten Candy, Snot Corn, jugglers, balloonists, stilt walkers, a kissing booth and lots of carnival creatures roaming about.

Witches were everywhere. The newly-sanctioned Mermaids of Canyon Lake Club hosted a witch-themed Potion Party to raise funds to benefit local charities such as the Riverside Shelter for Abused Women. Additional Canyon Lake witches took to the lake on paddle boards and kayaks to bring awareness to breast cancer issues. Witches of Canyon Lake Halloween Paddle has the witches dawn their witch apparel and cruise the lake.

Dozens of costumed kids and roughly 15 boats took to the waters of Canyon Lake to do a little trick or treating at 12 scary docks that had signed up to participate in the first Canyon Lake Dock or Treat event.

The 2021 Halloween Town held its Canyon Lake Spooktacular House Contest.

The Canyon Lake K9 Dog Group held its annual Howl-O-Ween Costume Contest at the Eastport Dog Park on Halloween night. Ribbons were given in separate small and large dog categories to Most Original Costume, Scariest Costume, Best Costume and Best Couples Costume.

More than 100 people came out to enjoy LifeTime Rocker, some dinner, a few drinks and some dancing at the Canyon Lake Country Club’s Halloween Costume Party.

10. New Library

The Canyon Lake community had been without a library for 18 months. First the pandemic shut it down and then a closure as a new space was being converted into a new library in the Canyon Lake Town Center. Finally, the Canyon Lake Library lives.

The new library is located in the prior home of the John Giardinelli Law Offices located in the corner of the Town Center on the opposite side from its previous home in City Hall. The address is 31594 Railroad Canyon Road.

Branch Manager Amanda McLaughlin is eager to bring the community back into her library. There are several new amenities in the library’s remodeled home.

“Our team is ready to go above and beyond for our visitors,” Amanda said. “Canyon Lake deserves this library and it’s something that the residents can be excited about and be proud of.”