For the Planning Commission Meeting of December 6, 2023
TO: Honorable Chairman and Planning Commissioners
APPROVAL: Colby Cataldi, Community Development Director
REVIEWED BY: Paul Gonzales, Community Development Manager
FROM: Shannon J. Casey, Contract Senior Planner
Title
Conditional Development Permit No. 2022-0034 & Precise Plan of Design No. 2022-0058: A request to allow the redevelopment and reuse of 9.57 acres of land (APN’s: 1133-221-01, -04, & -05) located at the southeast corner of Locust Avenue and Vineyard Avenue within the Planned Industrial Development (I-PID) land use district of the Rialto Airport Specific Plan with a 191,000 square foot industrial warehouse building and associated paving, landscaping, fencing, lighting, and drainage improvements. A Mitigated Negative Declaration (Environmental Assessment Review No. 2022-0056) has been prepared for consideration in conjunction with the project.
Body
APPLICANT:
2271 Locust XC, LLC, 3010 Old Ranch Parkway, Suite 470, Seal Beach California, 90740
LOCATION:
The project site is located at the southeast corner of Locust Avenue and Vineyard Avenue within the Rialto Airport Specific Plan Zoning District, Planned Industrial Development (I-PID) Land Use area (Exhibit A).
BACKGROUND:
Surrounding General Plan Land Use Designations
|
Location |
General Plan Designation |
|
Site |
Planned Industrial Development (I-PID) |
|
North |
Planned Industrial Development (I-PID) |
|
East |
County of San Bernardino (Sphere of Influence Area) |
|
South |
Renaissance Specific Plan |
|
West |
Planned Industrial Development (I-PID) |
Surrounding Zoning Designations
|
Location |
Zoning |
|
Site |
Rialto Airport Specific Plan Area |
|
North |
Rialto Airport Specific Plan Area |
|
East |
County of San Bernardino (Sphere of Influence Area) |
|
South |
Renaissance Specific Plan |
|
West |
Rialto Airport Specific Plan Area |
Site Characteristics
In May of 2023, three existing parcels (APN’s 1133-22-101, 1133-22-104, and 1133-22-105) were merged into on 9.57-acre (8.9-acre net) parcel through the approval of a lot line adjustment (LLA2022-0010). The project site is bound by Locust Avenue to the west and West Vineyard Avenue to the north. The property was previously developed with a trucking lot, recreational vehicle and boat storage, and a towing company. The lot is rectangularly shaped and relatively flat.
Surrounding Area
To the north of the project site is Vineyard Avenue and the Ziglift Materials Handling building, to the east is vacant land in San Bernardino County sphere of influence area, to the west is the Eagle Roofing operation, and to the south is B&B Plastics within the Renaissance Specific Plan Area.
ANALYSIS/DISCUSSION:
Project Proposal
The applicant proposes to redevelop (3) parcels of land into one (1) 9.57-acre (8.9-acre net) parcel with a 191,000 square-foot industrial warehouse. There is no identified tenant with this application.
Lot Line Adjustment
The applicant filed Lot Line Adjustment No. 2022-0010 to combine the three (3) parcels of land (APN’s 1133-22-101, 1133-22-104, and 1133-22-105) that into one (1) 9.57-acre lot. The Community Development Department approved Lot Line Adjustment No. 2022-0010 on May 23, 2023. Lot Line Adjustment No. 2022-0010 does not require Planning Commission action.
Site Design
As shown on the site plan (Exhibit B), the proposed layout includes a truck court on the east side of the building and passenger vehicle parking areas along the north, south, and west sides of the building. The truck court will accommodate a maximum of 62 trucks and trailers (22 at the dock doors and 40 adjacent), while the passenger vehicle parking areas will provide for the parking of up to 114 passenger vehicles.
Parking
The development will have 114 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 Mezzanine Warehouse |
5,000 2,500 |
1 / 250 1 / 500 |
10 5 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Floor area up to 10,000 square feet Floor area 10,001 square feet or more |
10,000 176,000 |
1 / 1,000 1 / 2,000 |
10 88 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total Required/Total Provided |
|
|
113/114 |
Four (4) driveways are proposed; two along Locust Avenue and two along Vineyard Avenue. A forty-eight (48) foot wide driveway at the north and east end of the project site will provide right-in/left-out access for trucks and a separate thirty-two (32) foot wide driveway for passenger vehicles. Along Locust Avenue, two additional thirty-two (32) foot wide driveways are provided; the southerly most driveway would accommodate both truck and passenger vehicle ingress and egress.
Additional on-site improvements include paving, lighting, landscape planters throughout the site, screen walls, and drainage infrastructure.
Floor Plan
The floor plan for the proposed building (Exhibit C) indicates 191,000 square feet of interior space including the proposed 5,000 square feet of office and 2,500 square feet of mezzanine area. The east side of the building will have up to 24 dock high loading doors.
Architectural Design
The proposed tilt-up concrete 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 sides of the building. As shown on the elevations (Exhibit D), the height of the building will range from 49 feet to 52 feet four (4) inches from the finished floor level. The exterior of the building will be painted with a palette of four (4) different colors - white, various gray tones, and a blue accent. Additional architectural features of the building include wall panel reveals, metal brow accents, and glazing.
A three-dimensional photo-realistic rendering is provided as Exhibit E.
Landscaping
The required ten percent (10%) minimum water-efficient landscape coverage for the project includes 114 trees, with various shrubs, vines, and groundcovers. Decorative boulders will be strategically placed to add visual appeal. A fifteen (15) foot landscape setback is proposed along Locust Avenue and Vineyard Avenue. Additionally, planter areas are proposed along the building elevations facing the street (Exhibit F).
Traffic
Stantec prepared a Transportation Impact Analysis (TIA), dated August 3, 2023, to assess the project’s potential impacts to local streets and intersections (Exhibit G). The total trip generation for the site is 33 AM peak hour trips, 35 PM peak hour trips, and 328 daily trips based on the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Warehousing trip rates. However, due to the expected operation of the proposed land use, a portion of the driveway trips would be large trucks; therefore, the City has identified passenger car equivalent (PCE) factors to be applied to truck trips to account for the larger impact of trucks on traffic flow. Consequently, the Project would generate 55 AM peak hour PCE trips, 59 PM peak hour PCE trips, and 552 daily PCE trips for use in the roadway level of service (LOS) analysis.
Five study intersections were included in the roadway LOS analysis, and potential Project effects were evaluated under Existing plus Ambient Growth conditions representing the opening year of the Project. Under Existing plus Ambient Growth conditions, the study intersections would operate at acceptable LOS D or better, and the Project would have no adverse effects based on the City’s level of service standards. The study intersections would operate at acceptable levels of service under opening year plus Project conditions and no off-site operational improvements are required.
Existing Plus Ambient Growth Intersection Delay and LOS Summary
GENERAL PLAN CONSISTENCY:
The General Plan land use designation of the site is Planned Industrial Development (I-PID). According to Chapter 2 (Managing Our Land Supply) of the Rialto General Plan, industrial commerce buildings, such as the project, are consistent with the I-PID Land Use Area. 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, employment opportunities, and maintain a positive business climate.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT:
California Environmental Quality Act
Phil Martin and Associates prepared an Initial Study (Environmental Assessment Review No. 2022-0056) for the project in accordance with the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The Initial Study (Exhibit H) found seven (7) areas where a potentially significant environmental impact may occur without mitigation measures imposed. These areas are Air Quality, Cultural Resources, Hazards and Hazardous Materials, Noise, Transportation, Tribal Cultural Resources, and Mandatory Findings of Significance. Mitigation measures needed to reduce the impacts to a level of insignificance have been included in the Mitigated Negative Declaration for each identified area of concern. These mitigation measures will be required by the project’s Conditions of Approval. Additionally, the applicant will be required to prepare a Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Plan prior to construction.
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 (Exhibit I). One (1) comment letter was received during the public comment period:
1. Rialto Unified School District, August 24, 2023, addressing mitigation fees, traffic and air quality, and safe routes to schools (Exhibit J)
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:
- Adopt the attached Resolution (Exhibit K) to approve the Mitigated Negative Declaration (Environmental Assessment Review No. 2022-0056) for the proposed project and authorize staff to file a Notice of Determination with the Clerk of the Board of San Bernardino County; and
-
- Adopt the attached Resolution (Exhibit L) for Conditional Development Permit No. 2022-003to allow the redevelopment and reuse of an existing industrial site with a 191,000 square foot industrial warehouse building on 9.57 acres of land (APN’s: 1133-221-01, -04, & -05) located at the southeast corner of Locust Avenue and Vineyard Avenue within the Planned Industrial Development (I-PID) land use district of the Rialto Airport Specific Plan, subject to the findings and conditions therein; and
-
- Adopt the attached Resolution (Exhibit M) for Precise Plan of Design No. 2022-0058 to allow the redevelopment of an existing industrial site with a 191,000 square foot industrial warehouse building and associated paving, landscaping, fencing, lighting, and drainage improvements on 9.57 acres of land (APNs 1133-22-101, 1133-22-104, and, 1133-22-105) located at the southeast corner of Locust 9.57 acres of land (APN’s: 1133-221-01, -04, & -05) located at the southeast corner of Locust Avenue and Vineyard Avenue within the Planned Industrial Development (I-PID) land use district of the Rialto Airport Specific Plan, subject to the findings and conditions therein.