For the Planning Commission Meeting of January 17, 2024
TO: Honorable Chairman and Planning Commissioners
APPROVAL: Colby Cataldi, Community Development Director
REVIEWED BY: Paul Gonzales, Community Development Manager
FROM: Daniel Casey, Principal Planner
Title
Tentative Parcel Map No. 2022-0003 (TPM 20648), Conditional Development Permit No. 2022-0037, & Precise Plan of Design No. 2022-0061: A request to allow the consolidation of five (5) parcels of land (APN’s: 0258-120-58, -59, -60, -61 & -68) located at the southwest corner of Santa Ana Avenue and Lilac Avenue within the Light Manufacturing (M-1) zone into one (1) 13.68 net acre parcel of land and the development and use of a 301,000 square foot industrial warehouse building on said parcel of land. A Mitigated Negative Declaration (Environmental Assessment Review No. 2022-0059) has been prepared for consideration in conjunction with the project.
Body
APPLICANT:
CH Realty X/I Rialto, L.P., 2321 Rosecrans Avenue, Suite 2220, El Segundo, CA 90245
LOCATION:
The project site consists of five (5) parcels of land (APN’s: 0258-120-58, -59, -60, -61 & -68) located at the southwest corner of Santa Ana Avenue and Lilac Avenue (Refer to the attached Location Map (Exhibit A)).
BACKGROUND:
Surrounding General Plan Land Use Designations
|
Location |
General Plan Designation |
|
Site |
Light Industrial |
|
North |
Light Industrial with a Specific Plan Overlay (Agua Mansa SP) |
|
East |
Light Industrial with a Specific Plan Overlay (Agua Mansa SP) |
|
South |
Light Industrial |
|
West |
Residential 2 |
Surrounding Zoning Designations
|
Location |
Zoning or Specific Plan Land Use Designation |
|
Site |
Light Manufacturing (M-1) |
|
North |
Agua Mansa Specific Plan (Heavy Industrial (H-IND)) |
|
East |
Agua Mansa Specific Plan (Heavy Industrial (H-IND)) |
|
South |
Light Manufacturing (M-1) |
|
West |
County of San Bernardino |
Site Characteristics
The project site is located at the southwest corner of Santa Ana Avenue and Lilac Avenue. The site is a relatively flat, rectangular-shaped, area of land totaling approximately 13.69 gross acres in size with approximate dimensions of 950 feet (north-south) by 630 feet (east-west). The north one-third of the property is vacant and covered with natural grasses and shrubs, and the south two-thirds of the property is developed into a truck and trailer storage yard.
Surrounding Area
North of the project site, across Santa Ana Avenue, is an approximately 398,000 square foot industrial warehouse building, and to the east, across Lilac Avenue, are two (2) industrial warehouse buildings totaling approximately 162,000 square feet in size. To the south is approximately 4.78 acres of vacant land recently approved for the development of a 68,883 square foot industrial warehouse building, and to the west is a tract of single-family residences located within the jurisdiction of the County of San Bernardino.
ANALYSIS/DISCUSSION:
Project Proposal
The applicant, CH Realty/Acquisitions X, LLC, proposes to consolidate the project site’s five (5) parcels of land into one (1) 13.68 net acre parcel and construct a 301,000 square foot industrial warehouse building with associated paving, landscaping, fencing, lighting, and drainage improvements on the new parcel. There is no proposed tenant for the new building at this time, but the design of the building will accommodate various storage and distribution uses.
Entitlement Requirements
The following entitlements are required for the applicant’s proposal:
• Tentative Parcel Map: Per Section 17.16.040 of the Rialto Municipal Code, the proposed consolidation of land requires the approval of a Tentative Parcel Map.
• Conditional Development Permit: The development and operation of an industrial warehouse use within the M-1 zone requires the approval of a Conditional Development Permit.
• Precise Plan of Design: The design of the development and the related site improvements (e.g. building exterior, landscaping, etc.) requires the approval of a Precise Plan of Design.
Site Design
As shown on the site plan (Exhibit B), the applicant proposes to construct a 301,000 square foot industrial warehouse building on the west end of the project site. The proposed layout includes a truck court on the east side of the building that faces away from the existing single-family residences to the west. The layout also includes passenger vehicle parking areas along the north and south sides of the building. The truck court will accommodate a maximum of 83 trucks and trailers, while the passenger vehicle parking areas will provide for the parking of up to 180 passenger vehicles. The proposed warehouse building will be separated from the single-family residences to the west by twenty-one (21) feet of landscaping and a twenty-six (26) foot wide fire lane.
Additional on-site improvements include paving, lighting, landscape planters throughout the site, screen walls around the truck court, and an underground infiltration basin for runoff water quality treatment and retention. Off-site improvements will include new curb, gutter, sidewalk, and street paving along the frontages of Santa Ana Avenue and Lilac Avenue.
Access
Two (2) driveways are proposed to be connected to Santa Ana Avenue for access - a twenty-six (26) foot wide driveway on the west end of the Santa Ana Avenue frontage will provide full access for passenger vehicles only and a forty (40) foot wide driveway on the east of the Santa Ana Avenue frontage will provide full access for passenger vehicles and left-in/right-out access for trucks. One (1) driveway is proposed to be connected to Lilac Avenue for access - a forty (40) foot wide driveway on the south end of the Lilac Avenue frontage will provide full access for both passenger vehicles and trucks.
Floor Plan
The floor plan for the proposed building (Exhibit C) indicates that the building will consist of 294,000 square feet of warehouse space and 7,000 square feet of office space. The office space will potentially occupy the northeast and/or southeast corner of the building, with 3,500 square feet on the ground floor and an additional 3,500 square feet on a second-floor mezzanine. The east side of the building will have up to 35 dock high loading doors and two (2) grade level roll-up doors.
Architectural Design
The proposed building will feature significant vertical and horizontal wall plane articulation in the form of recessed wall panels, projected wall panels, and panel height variations on all four (4) sides of the building. As shown on the elevations (Exhibit D), the height of the building will range from 42 feet to 46 feet from the finished floor level. The exterior of the building will be of concrete tilt-up wall construction painted with a palette of five (5) different colors - four (4) gray tones and a blue accent. Additional architectural features of the building include formliners, wall panel reveals, metal eyebrow accents, and glazing.
Parking
The development will have 180 auto-parking spaces, including six (6) ADA accessible parking spaces. This quantity exceeds the minimum parking requirement as shown in the parking calculation chart below and as required by Chapter 18.58 (Off-Street Parking) of the Rialto Municipal Code:
|
Type of Use |
Floor Area (square feet) |
Parking Ratio |
Number of spaces required |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Office Ground floor Above ground floor Warehouse |
3,500 3,500 |
1 / 250 1 / 500 |
14 7 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Floor area up to 10,000 square feet Floor area 10,001 square feet or more |
10,000 284,000 |
1 / 1,000 1 / 2,000 |
10 142 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total Required/Total Provided |
|
|
173/180 |
Landscaping
The landscape coverage for the project is 12.4 percent, which exceeds the minimum required amount of 10.0 percent. This includes twenty-five (25) foot landscape setbacks along Santa Ana Avenue and Lilac Avenue, as well as planters around the perimeter of the building and the project site. All the landscape planters will feature a variety of trees spaced every thirty (30) linear feet and an abundant number of shrubs and groundcover (Exhibit E).
Traffic
Urban Crossroads, Inc. prepared a Traffic Analysis (TA), dated April 19, 2023, to assess the project’s potential impacts to local streets and intersections (Exhibit F). The TA estimates that the project will generate approximately 520 daily vehicle trips (874 PCE daily vehicle trips) with 52 trips in the AM peak hour and 55 trips in the PM peak hour. Trucks will constitute a maximum of 210 of the 520 new daily vehicle trips.
The TA analyzed the following 9 intersections in the project vicinity:
Two (2) of the intersections are anticipated to be impacted when the existing plus ambient and project generated traffic volumes are combined with cumulative growth without any mitigation. The specific intersections are (1) Riverside Avenue & I-10 Eastbound Ramps and (2) Riverside Avenue & Slover Avenue. The TA recommends various improvements to mitigate potential traffic impacts to these intersections. The recommended improvements to mitigate the traffic impacts consist of constructing new travel lanes through the expansion of right-of-way.
The City’s Traffic Impact Analysis Guidelines and Requirements and the project TA conclude that the payment of “fair share” fees constitutes adequate mitigation to address the cumulative traffic impacts. The applicant will be responsible for fair share payments in the amount of $848,405. The fair share fees are calculated based upon the project’s anticipated portion of traffic generated at each of the affected intersections. Specifically, the applicant is responsible for 4.0% of the cost of improvements necessary for Riverside Avenue & I-10 Eastbound Ramps and 4.6% of the cost of improvements necessary for Riverside Avenue & Slover Avenue.
Voluntary Contribution
In conjunction with the development of the proposed industrial warehouse building, the applicant proposes to voluntarily provide a one-time monetary contribution to the City of Rialto in the amount of $301,000 towards public safety and public facility needs. The voluntary contribution will be paid prior to the issuance of a Certificate of Occupancy.
Land Use Compatibility
The project is consistent with the M-1 zone, the regulations contained within Chapter 18.112 (Indoor Storage Uses) of the Rialto Municipal Code, and the industrial uses to the north, east, and south of the project site. The nearest sensitive uses are the existing single-family residences located to the west of the project site. The development and operation of the proposed industrial warehouse building will not significantly impact these uses since measures, such as the placement of the truck court on the east side of the building, the installation of solid screen walls around the truck court, and the installation of landscape planters around the perimeter of the building and the project site will reduce both noise and visual impacts to acceptable levels. Additionally, the Draft Resolutions of Approval contain conditions of approval requiring that the project not exceed the traffic estimates contained within the TA, thereby ensuring that the project will not significantly impact local streets and intersections. The project will be a benefit to the community and an improvement to the surrounding area.
GENERAL PLAN CONSISTENCY:
The General Plan land use designation of the site is Light Industrial. According to Chapter 2 (Managing Our Land Supply) of the Rialto General Plan, industrial warehouse buildings, such as the project, are consistent with the Light Industrial land use designation. Furthermore, the project is consistent with the following goals of the Land Use Element and Economic Development Element of the Rialto General Plan:
Goal 2-16: Improve the architectural and design quality of development in Rialto.
Goal 2-22: Promote commercial and/or industrial development that is well designed, people-oriented, environmentally sustainable, sensitive to the needs of the visitor or resident, and functionally efficient for its purpose.
Goal 3-1: Strengthen and diversify the economic base and employment opportunities and maintain a positive business climate.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT:
California Environmental Quality Act
FirstCarbon Solutions prepared a Draft Initial Study (Environmental Assessment Review No. 2022-0059) for the project in accordance with the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The Draft Initial Study is attached to the agenda report (Exhibit G). Based on the findings and recommended mitigation within the Draft Initial Study, staff determined that the project will not have an adverse impact on the environment and prepared a Mitigated Negative Declaration. Although the Mitigated Negative Declaration identified potential impacts related to biological resources, cultural resources, geology and soils, greenhouse gas emissions, noise, transportation, and tribal cultural resources, any of these impacts will be reduced to a level of insignificance subject to the imposition of the recommended mitigation contained within the project’s Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program (Exhibit H).
The Planning Division published a Notice of Intent to adopt the Mitigated Negative Declaration for the project in the San Bernardino Sun newspaper, mailed copies to all property owners within 1,000 feet of the project site. Staff also completed a Notice of Completion and distributed copies of the Draft Initial Study to the State Clearinghouse. A thirty (30) day public comment period for the Mitigated Negative Declaration began on June 28, 2023, and ended on July 27, 2023. Two (2) comment letters were received during the public comment period:
1. Colton Joint Unified School District, July 27, 2023, addressing distribution of truck trips and potential impacts from trucks
2. Advocates for the Environment, August 18, 2023, addressing greenhouse gas emissions
The comment letters and responses to the comment letters are included in the Final Initial Study (Exhibit I).
PUBLIC NOTICE:
The City published a public hearing notice for proposed project in the San Bernardino Sun newspaper, posted copies of the public hearing notice outside the Council Chambers and the City Clerk’s Office, and mailed public hearing notices to all property owners within 1,000 feet of the project site, as required by State law.
RECOMMENDATION:
The Planning Division recommends that the Planning Commission:
1. Adopt the attached Resolution (Exhibit J) to approve the Mitigated Negative Declaration (Environmental Assessment Review No. 2022-0059) prepared for the proposed project, and authorize staff to file the attached Notice of Determination with the Clerk of the Board of San Bernardino County; and
2. Adopt the attached Resolution (Exhibit K) to approve Tentative Parcel Map No. 2022-0003 (TPM 20648), subject to the findings and conditions therein; and
3. Adopt the attached Resolution (Exhibit L) to approve Conditional Development Permit No. 2022-0037, subject to the findings and conditions therein; and
4. Adopt the attached Resolution (Exhibit M) to approve Precise Plan of Design No. 2022-0061, subject to the findings and conditions therein.