News Details (Posted: January 31, 2008):

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Heritage (But Were Afraid to Ask)

Full Description:

The city of Alta Loma, and home to Heritage, is one of three formerly unincorporated areas that became part of the city of Rancho Cucamonga, California, United States in 1977. The community is located in the foothills of the south face of the San Gabriel Mountain range, near Cucamonga Peak and Mount Baldy. Its lowest elevation is approximately 1,371 feet and extends to about 3000 feet. The name comes from the Spanish, meaning "high hill" or "high hillside." Alta Loma had previously been known as Iamosa.

Overview

Alta Loma is one of the more affluent areas in San Bernardino County. It is almost completely residential and as per city ordinance no commercial business may exist above 19th Street, with exception to several businesses already in place when the ordinance was enacted (notably at the intersection of Lemon Avenue and Haven Avenue). In addition, homes north of Banyan Road must have a minimum of 1/2 acre lots, with the exception of the development known as Compass Rose Phase II found directly west of Chaffey College between Banyan and Wilson. Compass Rose Phase II was granted permission for smaller lots provided the development connected to city sewer systems instead of septic tanks.

The community of Alta Loma is located mostly in the northwest corner of Rancho Cucamonga. The exact definitions of the three communities (Cucamonga, Etiwanda, and Alta Loma) within the City of Rancho Cucamonga are debatable; however, residents typically consider Alta Loma to be above Baseline Street (Old Route 60), between the eastern edge of Upland, California and west of Day Creek, a boundary later moved to Day Creek Boulevard when the then-future road was plotted on Chamber of Commerce maps dating to about 1980. Most street signs in the Rancho Cucamonga area stretching from Carnelian Street to Milliken Avenue, and Baseline Road to the mountains, have an Alta Loma logo.

Some residents of Rancho Cucamonga, especially those in the former Cucamonga area, have challenged the city council to get rid of the names 'Alta Loma' and 'Etiwanda,' accusing residents in those areas of keeping the names out of arrogance. The three communities incorporated after years of debate and at least one failed attempt on the ballot. Residents of Alta Loma and Etiwanda finally agreed to incorporation provided their identifying community names would be kept along with separate post offices and zip codes. In addition, businesses are permitted to use either Alta Loma or Rancho Cucamonga on letterheads, business permits, and other records.

Alta Loma is arguably the richer area of Rancho Cucamonga; however, Etiwanda and the rest of Rancho Cucamonga are expanding, and housing prices in the area continue to rise due to the constant development.

Alta Loma and the rest of Cucamonga was formerly home to old citrus groves and grape vineyards. The reason many homes above Banyan Street, in particular, have orange and lemon trees on their property may be attributed to this; many horse trails are lined with eucalyptus trees, which are former windbreakers for the groves. This also is the reason why grape vineyards can still be seen in random parts of the City of Rancho Cucamonga between office buildings and shopping malls; unfortunately these are being destroyed and replaced with housing and business developments.

Geography

Most of the homes in the foothills of Alta Loma and Etiwanda sit on alluvial fans punctuated by deep debris canyons. Some of these canyons are used for water collection and thus the area does not typically take water from the Colorado River.

Cucamonga Canyon in particular is a favorite among hikers, although dangerous due to the rough terrain, loose rocks, possible flooding, poison oak, bears, mountain lions, rattlesnakes, bobcats, and other wildlife. Far up the canyon are the Cucamonga Falls, which have occasionally caused contention between the city council, residents, and developers, due to developers wanting to build homes over the falls.

Several high voltage transmission lines cross the communities northern edge just at the base of the mountains creating an effective barrier to further development except in the case of the hills above Beryl Street, home to a former Christmas tree farm, which has been slated for development of sixty, $1 million homes across approximately 300 acres.

The Alta Loma area experiences high winds known in the Inland Empire and the rest of Southern California as the "Santa Ana Winds." Heavy rain storms in the past created the need for 12-18 foot deep concrete flood control channels to prevent severe flooding that historically killed many people, including a young mother and her two children in 1981 at the intersection of Beryl and 19th Streets.

The northern parts of Alta Loma are also frequently visited by private planes, sometimes performing acrobatic stunts, using VFR.

Alta Loma rests on the Cucamonga-Sierra Madre earthquake fault. It is a thrust fault, meaning the sides of the fault push toward each other. Several other earthquake faults pass through the area, too.