For the Planning Commission Meeting of November 10, 2021
TO: Honorable Chairman and Planning Commissioners
APPROVAL: Daniel Casey, Acting Community Development Manager
FROM: Dionne Harris, Senior Planner
Title
Conditional Development Permit No. 2021-0022: A request to construct and operate a 43,000 square foot industrial storage warehouse building on 2.00 acres of land (APN: 0258-111-37) located on the south side of Santa Ana Avenue approximately 355 feet west of Willow Avenue within the Heavy Industrial (H-IND) land use district of the Agua Mansa Specific Plan.
Precise Plan of Design Permit No. 2021-0020: A request to construct a 43,000 square foot industrial storage warehouse building on 2.00 acres (APN: 0258-111-37) located on the south side of Santa Ana Avenue approximately 355 feet west of Willow Avenue within the Heavy Industrial (H-IND) land use district of the Agua Mansa Specific Plan.
Together, the above shall hereinafter be referred to as “Project” or “project”. This Project is categorically exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act pursuant to Section 15332 (In-Fill Development Projects) of the State CEQA Guidelines.
Body
APPLICANT:
Lord Constructors, Inc., 1920 West Eleventh Street, Upland, CA 91786.
LOCATION:
The Project site (APN: 0258-111-37) is located on the south side of Santa Ana Avenue and approximately 355 feet west of Willow Avenue, as shown on the attached Location Map (Exhibit A).
BACKGROUND:
Surrounding General Plan Land Use Designations
|
Location |
General Plan Designation |
|
Site |
General Industrial with a Specific Plan Overlay |
|
North |
General Industrial with a Specific Plan Overlay |
|
East |
General Industrial with a Specific Plan Overlay |
|
South |
General Industrial with a Specific Plan Overlay |
|
West |
Light Industrial with a Specific Plan Overlay |
Surrounding Zoning Designations
|
Location |
Zoning |
|
Site |
Agua Mansa Specific Plan (Heavy Industrial (H-IND)) |
|
North |
Agua Mansa Specific Plan (Heavy Industrial (H-IND)) |
|
East |
Agua Mansa Specific Plan (Heavy Industrial (H-IND)) |
|
South |
Agua Mansa Specific Plan (Heavy Industrial (H-IND)) |
|
West |
Agua Mansa Specific Plan (Heavy Industrial (H-IND)) |
Site Characteristics
The project site is a relatively flat, square-shaped piece of land comprised of one (1) parcel. Altogether, the project site is 2.00 acres in size with approximate dimensions of 305 feet (north-south) by 285 feet (east-west). The project site is bound on the north by Santa Ana Avenue. The project site is vacant and covered by natural grasses and shrubs.
Surrounding Area
To the north of the project site is vacant land, and to the east is an approximately 52,000 square foot industrial building occupied by Fresh Start Bakeries, which is a commercial baker. To the south is a truck terminal facility occupied by UPS Freight, and to the west is a 137,538 square foot industrial building occupied by Lineage Logistics Company.
ANALYSIS/DISCUSSION:
Project Proposal
Lord Constructors, Inc., the applicant, proposes to construct a 43,000 square foot industrial storage warehouse building with associated paving, landscaping, fencing, lighting, and drainage improvements. The proposed tenant for the new building is Access Partners, which is a distributor of food service, janitorial, and equipment supplies.
Entitlement Requirements
The following entitlements are required for the applicant’s proposal:
• Conditional Development Permit: The development and operation of the Project within the H-IND zone of the Agua Mansa Specific Plan requires the approval of a Conditional Development Permit, pursuant to Section 18.112.030A(7) of the Rialto Municipal Code.
• 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, pursuant to Section 18.65.010 of the Rialto Municipal Code.
Site Design
According to the site plan (Exhibit B), the applicant will construct a 43,000 square foot industrial storage warehouse on the west side of the project site. The proposed layout will place the truck court at the southeast end of the project site and passenger vehicle parking areas on the east and south sides of the building. A new thirty-three (33) foot wide driveway connected directly to Santa Ana Avenue on the east end of the project frontage will provide full access movements for both trucks and passenger vehicles. Other proposed on-site improvements include paving, lighting, landscape planters, 8-foot-tall split-face block screen walls, and an underground stormwater infiltration system.
Floor Plan
The floor plan for the proposed building (Exhibit C) indicates that the building will consist of 4,000 square feet of office space and 39,000 square feet of warehouse space. The office space will occupy the northeast corner of the building, with 2,000 square feet on the ground floor and another 2,000 square feet up above on a second floor. The east side of the building will have three (3) dock high loading doors and one (1) grade level roll-up door, and the south side of the building will have one (1) additional grade level roll-up door. The applicant will place the main entrance to the building on the east side of the office space for convenient access to the employee/customer parking lot, along with in the north side of the building, along with seven (7) secondary/emergency exits distributed amongst all four (4) sides of the building.
Architectural Design
The proposed building will feature vertical and horizontal wall plane articulation in the form of projected wall panels and/or panel height variations on all four (4) sides of the building. As shown on the elevations (Exhibit D), the building height ranges from 35.5 feet to 37.5 feet from the finished floor level. The exterior of the building will be of concrete tilt-up wall construction painted with a palette of three (3) different colors - various gray tones. Other architectural features of the building include reveals, metal brow accents, and glazing.
Parking
The development will have 41 auto-parking spaces, including two (2) ADA accessible parking spaces and three (3) electric/clean air vehicle parking spaces. This quantity exceeds the minimum parking requirement as shown in the parking calculation chart below and as required by Table 13 (Off-Street Parking Requirements) of the Agua Mansa Specific Plan, which requires one (1) parking space for every 300 square feet of office space gross floor area, one (1) parking space for every 1,000 square feet of warehouse space gross floor area up to 10,000 square feet, and one (1) parking space for every 2,000 square feet of warehouse space gross floor area beyond 10,000 square feet:
|
Type of Use |
Floor Area (square feet) |
Parking Ratio |
Number of spaces required |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Office Office 1st Floor Office 2nd Floor Warehouse |
2,000 2,000 |
1 / 300 1 / 300 |
7 7 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Floor area up to 10,000 square feet Floor area 10,001 square feet or more |
10,000 29,000 |
1 / 1,000 1 / 2,000 |
10 15 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total Required/Total Provided |
|
|
39/41 |
Landscaping
The landscape coverage for the project is 13.8 percent. This includes a thirty-four (34) foot deep landscape planter along Santa Ana Avenue, as well as planters around the perimeter of the building and the project site. The landscape planter along Santa Ana Avenue will feature a two (2) foot high berm along the frontage of the building. 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).
Floor Area Ratio
Per Chapter 2 (Managing Our Land Supply) of the Rialto General Plan, the maximum allowable Floor Area Ratio (FAR) for parcels within the General Industrial land use designation is 100.0 percent. The FAR proposed for the project is 49.5 percent, which is well within the allowable limit.
Traffic
LSA Associates, Inc. prepared a Traffic Impact Analysis Scoping Agreement (TIASA), dated October 22, 2021, to assess the project’s potential impacts to local streets and intersections (Exhibit F). The TIASA estimates that the project will generate up to approximately 74 actual daily vehicle trips (112 PCE daily vehicle trips) with 8 actual (13 PCE) trips in the AM peak hour and 9 actual (14 PCE) trips in the PM peak hour. Trucks will constitute up to 22 of the 74 actual daily vehicle trips. The TIASA concluded that the project will generate an insignificant amount of traffic and will not significantly impact any nearby intersections or roadway segments. However, the project traffic will contribute to existing delays at the intersections of Riverside Avenue and Slover Avenue and Riverside Avenue and Riverside Avenue and I-10 EB Ramps, and in response the applicant will contribute a “fair-share” payment in the amount of $40,462 towards improvements to those intersections.
Land Use Compatibility
The project is consistent with the H-IND land use district, the Agua Mansa Specific Plan, and Chapter 18.112 (Indoor Storage Facilities) of the Rialto Municipal Code. The nearby area is predominantly designated for and developed with industrial uses, and as a result, there are no sensitive uses near the project site. Additionally, the Draft Resolutions of Approval contain conditions of approval requiring that the project not exceed the traffic estimates contained within the TIASA, 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 General Industrial with a Specific Plan Overlay. According to Chapter 2 (Managing Our Land Supply) of the Rialto General Plan, warehouse uses, such as the project, are consistent with the General 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 3-1: Strengthen and diversify the economic base and employment opportunities and maintain a positive business climate.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT:
California Environmental Quality Act
The project is categorically exempt from the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The project qualifies as a Class 32 exemption under CEQA Guidelines Section 15332 - In-Fill Development Projects - as the project is consistent with the Rialto General Plan and the H-IND designation of the Agua Mansa Specific Plan, the project occurs on a site less than 5.0 acres in size that is substantially surrounded by development, the project site has no value as habitat for threatened or endangered species, the project will not result in any significant effects relating to traffic, noise, air quality, or water quality, and the project site can be adequately served by all required utilities and public services.
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:
- Find that the Project is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Section 15332 of the State CEQA Guidelines;
-
- Adopt the attached Resolution (Exhibit G) to approve Conditional Development Permit No. 2021-0022 to allow the development and operation of a 43,000 square foot industrial storage warehouse building on 2.00 acres of land (APN: 0258-111-37) located on the south side of Santa Ana Avenue approximately 355 feet west of Willow Avenue, within the Heavy Industrial (H-IND) land use district of the Agua Mansa Specific Plan, subject to the findings and conditions of approval therein; and
-
- Adopt the attached Resolution (Exhibit H) to approve Precise Plan of Design No. 2021-0020 to allow the development of a 43,000 square foot industrial storage warehouse building on 2.00 acres of land (APN: 0258-111-37) located on the south side of Santa Ana Avenue approximately 355 feet west of Willow Avenue within the Heavy Industrial (H-IND) land use district of the Agua Mansa Specific Plan, subject to the findings and conditions of approval therein.