For City Council Meeting August 26, 2025
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council
FROM: Tanya Williams, City Manager
AUTHOR: Christina Taylor, Director of Community Development
Title
Provide An Update to the City Council on the Status of Urgency Ordinance No. 1698 Entitled, “AN URGENCY ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF RIALTO, CALIFORNIA, EXTENDING THE PROVISIONS OF URGENCY ORDINANCE NO. 1697, ESTABLISHING A TEMPORARY MORATORIUM ON THE ESTABLISHMENT, EXPANSION, OR INTENSIFICATION OF “INDOOR STORAGE FACILITIES”, WITHIN THE JURISDICTIONAL BOUNDARIES OF THE CITY OF RIALTO.
(RECEIVE AND FILE)
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RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the City Council receive and file this update.
BACKGROUND
Chapter 18.112 (Indoor Storage Uses) of the Rialto Municipal Code authorizes the establishment, modification, expansion, or intensification of indoor storage facilities, which includes fulfillment centers and storage warehouses, within the Light Manufacturing (M-1) zone, General Manufacturing (M-2) zone, and Specific Plan areas. However, due to the rapid expansion of industrial developments within the City and neighboring communities, residents and businesses have experienced various adverse impacts related to these industrial developments, including incompatibility with adjacent uses.
On January 28, 2025, the City Council adopted Urgency Ordinance No. 1697 establishing a 45-day moratorium on the establishment, modification, expansion, or intensification of indoor storage facilities, which includes fulfillment centers and storage warehouses, and prohibits the City from issuing any permits or approvals to any indoor storage facility subject to the moratorium. On February 25, 2025, the City Council adopted Urgency Ordinance No. 1698, extending Urgency Ordinance No. 1697 for a period of six months.
The moratorium expires on August 26, 2025, after which it will no longer carry any legal force.
ANALYSIS/DISCUSSION
During the time the moratorium was in effect, Planning staff received no new applications for indoor storage uses. Application review and processing continued for the five indoor storage projects, which were active prior to the moratorium being enacted.
With the six-month extension of the Moratorium, staff was directed by City Council to analyze zoning throughout the City, identify areas of industrial-residential interface and provide recommendations to City Council on potential, alternative zoning designations for the interface areas.
Through this process, staff identified six general areas where there is potential conflict between industrial and residential zoning. They are as follows: Agua Mansa, El Rivino, Gateway, M-1 & M-2 zones in central Rialto, North of 210 (non-Renaissance), and Renaissance.
Each of these is shown on the maps included in Exhibit A. Staff will be presenting recommendations for discussion at the Economic Development Committee meeting on September 25, 2025.
Staff has also prepared a code amendment for compliance with the State-required adoption of AB98 standards, which will be presented at the City Council meeting on September 9, 2025.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
The moratorium did not constitute a “Project” as defined by the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Pursuant to Section 15378(a), a “Project” means the whole of an action, which has a potential for resulting in either a direct physical change in the environment, or a reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment. According to Section 15378(b), a Project does not include organizational or administrative activities of governments that will not result in direct or indirect physical changes in the environment. Additionally, pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3), the moratorium extension was also exempt from CEQA review as there was no possibility that the moratorium would have a significant effect on the environment, insofar as it prohibits the establishment or approval of indoor storage facilities, including fulfillment centers and storage warehouse uses.
There is no environmental impact associated with this status update.
GENERAL PLAN CONSISTENCY
Previous approval of the moratorium and ongoing staff work complies with the following City of Rialto Guiding Principles and General Plan Goals:
Guiding Principle No. 3: “Our City government will lead by example, and will operate in an open, transparent, and responsive manner that meets the needs of the citizens and is a good place to do business.”
Goal 2-9: Protect residential, schools, parks, and other sensitive land uses from the impacts associated with industrial and trucking-related land uses, as well as commercial and retail areas.
LEGAL REVIEW
The City Attorney's Office has reviewed and approved it as to form.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
There is no financial impact associated with this receive and file item.