Cabazon property owner claims asphalt and concrete buried illegally behind Desert Hills Premium Outlets

A property owner in Cabazon is raising questions about the recent expansion at the Desert Hills Premium Outlets.

Among his concerns, concrete and asphalt, which he says were illegally dumped and buried on a hilltop behind the new parking structure at the outlets.

Richard Whitman says a hilltop in Cabazon is where a contractor dumped and buried large chunks of asphalt and concrete.

He says it happened during the recent expansion of the Desert Hills Premium Outlets.

The hill sits directly behind the new parking structure at the outlets.

Whitman says the concrete and asphalt were once the original parking lot at the shopping complex, which was torn up and removed two years ago to make way for more retail space.

“When they took all the asphalt and debris from the existing mall, they put it all up on the hill behind us,” said Whitman.

Whitman says photos he has show the asphalt and concrete on the hill before it was buried.

Concerned by what he saw, Whitman says he used a series of phone calls and emails last spring, to bring the matter to the attention of Riverside County officials, including Chandra Thomas at the Building and Safety Department, and Bob Lyman, a manager at the county’s Transportation and Land Management Agency.

Whitman contends those officials did not do enough to investigate his concerns at the time.

“I brought it to their attention when the project was first started about all the asphalt being buried and stuff, and brought in over one hundred pictures to them and they just ignored this, and said they would take care of it,” said Whitman.

CBS Local 2 called Riverside County Supervisor Marion Ashley’s office to request an on camera interview with the supervisor to question him about Whitman’s concerns, but Ashley did not return our call.

We also called the general contractor for the outlet expansion, which was Anaheim based LPJ Construction, and a company representative would not comment.

However, Riverside County Public Information Officer Ray Smith provided a written statement.

“County staff looked into complaints from Mr. Whitman about the existence of concrete and asphalt debris on the site,” wrote Smith.

Smith also wrote: “…the county verified that all material was removed and that all work was consistent with the approved grading plan.”

However, that contradicts a statement provided by the outlets.

We called the company which owns Desert Hills Premium Outlets, which is Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group.

Les Morris, the company’s Director of Corporate Public Relations said asphalt and concrete are buried at the site.

“They allowed things to happen that never should have happened,” said Whitman.

Three different Riverside County officials would not say whether burying asphalt and concrete anywhere in the county is legal or illegal.

However, an official at Cal Recycle in Sacramento responded with a written statement, after we contacted the office to find out if burying asphalt or concrete in Riverside County is legal or illegal.

“A lot of this is going to depend on the specifics of this particular case. From the outset, it appears to be a case of illegal dumping, but I can’t say that for sure without knowing more details,” wrote Lance Klug, Public Information Officer for Cal Recycle.

The other problem with the hill, Whitman contends, is the size.

He says the height of the hill increased by as much as 50 feet in some places, because of the extra material brought in, and he says the hill now impairs the view on property he owns nearby, and the view for homeowners living in about 80 homes Whitman built in “Desert Hills Estates” next to the outlets.

“I really feel let down by the county because they let this happen to everybody, it devalued all of our land around here and it took away the desert view and the beautiful flowers that were here, they are all buried in the hill now,” said Whitman.

Whitman’s final concern with the outlet expansion has to do with traffic congestion during heavy shopping days.

He says the neighborhoods around the stores are overrun with cars, after parking spots at the outlet become full.

We’ve also received reports of workers at outlet stores facing significant delays getting to work on time because of traffic backed up around the stores, and on Interstate 10.

Whitman worries heavy congestion could slow emergency vehicles responding to the outlets and surrounding homes when necessary.

“People just drive in circles, just trying to find a place (to park), and they run over into the neighborhood and they disrupt the whole area, pulling into people’s driveways, shining lights at their house, honking their horns at each other, walking through people’s yards. It is a big nightmare for people who live here,” said Whitman.

After we began our investigation, an official from the county transportation department met with Richard Whitman to listen to his concerns.

County spokesman Ray Smith also said all traffic improvements required for the outlet expansion have been completed.