DATE: 02/05/2025
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM: Planning and Development Department
2025-01
REQUEST FOR CITY COUNCIL ACTION
SUBJECT:
GENERAL PLAN AMENDMENT 2020-0002 AMENDING THE LAND USE
DESIGNATIONS ON A TOTAL OF 158.54 ACRES FROM MIXED USE II, GENERAL COMMERCIAL AND ESTATE RESIDENTIAL TO OPEN SPACE ON 103.73 ACRES, GENERAL COMMERCIAL ON 5.5 ACRES AND MIXED USE II ON 49.31 LOCATED ON
THE NORTH AND SOUTH SIDES OF GREEN RIVER ROAD, WEST OF DOMINGUEZ RANCH ROAD (APPLICANT: PSIP WR GREEN RIVER LLC)
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
This staff report asks the City Council to approve General Plan Amendment 2020-0002 (GPA2020-0002) as recommended by the Planning and Housing Commission amending the land uses on 158.54 acres in order to redistribute the existing land use designations of General Commercial and Mixed Use II, eliminate the existing Estate Residential designation, and establish an Open Space designation to support the development of a light industrial business park complex and future commercial development. The property is part of the Green River Ranch Specific Plan located west of Dominguez Ranch Road on the north and south side of Green River Road.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
That the City Council:
a. Adopt Resolution 2025-007 certifying the Final Subsequent Environmental Impact Report for the Green River Ranch Specific Plan Amendment and business park development and relocation of proposed Constrained Linkage 1 of the Western Riverside County Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan (SCH# 2022080640), adopting environmental findings pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act, and adopting a Statement of Overriding Considerations and a Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program.
b. Adopt Resolution 2025-008 approving General Plan Amendment 2020-0002 amending the General Plan to change the land use designation of 5.5 acres located north of Green River Road and west of Dominguez Ranch Road from Mixed Use II (Industrial & Commercial) to General Commercial, and change the land use designations on the south side of Green River Road and west of Dominguez Ranch Road from General Commercial, Mixed Use II, and Estate Residential to 49.31 acres of Mixed Use II, and 103.73 acres of Open SpaceGeneral as part of Cycle 1 of the General Plan Amendments for 2025 (GPA2020- 0002).
BACKGROUND & HISTORY:
The purpose of GPA2020-0002 is to facilitate the development of a 49.31-acre light industrial business park consisting of five warehouse/industrial buildings totaling 746,167 square feet. The project site is part of the Green River Ranch Specific Plan that was originally approved by the City Council on February 7, 2001, encompassing approximately 165.33 acres of undeveloped land located on Green River Road, between Fresno Road and Dominguez Ranch Road.
The Green River Ranch Specific Plan was approved to permit commercial retail and service uses, light industrial and warehouse uses, and residential. The proposed amendment continues to allow the same land uses already permitted by the specific plan but will eliminate the residential land use and replace it with open space.
The General Plan aligns with the land use established by the specific plan; therefore, GPA2020-0002 is accompanied by a specific plan amendment, SPA2020-0006, to the Green River Ranch Specific Plan. The specific plan amendment will also redistribute the land uses of the specific plan to be consistent with GPA2020-0002.
ANALYSIS:
GPA2020-0002 proposes to change and redistribute the General Plan land use designations located with the Green River Ranch Specific Plan in the following manner. Amend 5.05 acres located on the north side of Green River Road from Mixed Use II (MU II) to General Commercial (GC).
Amend 8.12 acres from GC to MU II, expanding the MU II land use designation on the south side of Green River Road, resulting in a total of 49.31 acres of MU II from the original 53.1 acres.
Eliminate 103.73 acres of the Estate Residential (ER) designation and replace it with the Open Space General (OSG) designation.
Table 1 shows a comparison of the existing General Plan land uses and proposed land uses on the project site.
Table 1
Existing and Proposed General Plan Land Use Summary
Existing
General Plan and Acreage
Proposed
General Plan and Acreage
Mixed Use II
59.01 acres
Mixed Use II
49.31 acres
General Commercial
8.12 acres
General Commercial
5.50 acres
Estate Residential
98.2 acres
Estate Residential
0 acres
Open Space
3.4 acres
Open Space General
103.73 acres
California Housing Accountability Act
The state’s Housing Accountability Act (Government Code Section 65589.5) was amended in 2019 to include the Housing Crisis Act of 2019 (Government Code Section 66300). The Housing Crisis Act of 2019 requires cities to maintain the residential capacity that existed at the time of adoption of the legislation to ensure a “no net loss” in the zoning for residential units. Cities are allowed to change a General Plan land use designation or rezone residential properties to a non-residential land use designation, or rezone to a less intense residential land use designation or zone only if the Ccity concurrently changes the land use designation or rezones another parcel to make up for the shortfall in housing units lost under the previous General Plan land use change or zoning.
However, Section 66300(e)(4) provides that the Housing Crisis Act does not apply to a housing development project located within a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone (VHFHSZ). Because the proposed project involves a housing development project or residential zoning on a site that is located entirely within a VHFHS Zone, the Housing Crisis Act does not apply to GPA2020-0002, allowing the ER designation to be eliminated without it being replaced elsewhere in the cCity.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
The applicant paid the application processing fee of $12,810.95 to cover the cost of the General Plan Amendment.
ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS:
Green River Ranch Specific Plan Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and Subsequent EIR
The initial Green River Ranch Specific Plan EIR was certified by the City Council on February 7, 2001. The EIR evaluated potential environmental impacts associated with the development of the property of the Green River Ranch Specific Plan. The EIR identified environmental impacts that are capable of being reduced to a less than significant impact with the implementation of project mitigation measures. However, the EIR identified three environmental impacts, air quality, biological resources, and traffic, that will remain significant even with the implementation of project mitigation.
In accordance with Section 15162 of the CEQA Guidelines, the Ccity prepared a draft Subsequent EIR to the certified Green River Ranch Specific Plan Final EIR to address the potential environmental impacts associated with GPA2020-0002, the amendment to the Green River Ranch Specific Plan (SPA2020-0006), and the proposed 49.31-acre light industrial business park development of the specific plan. The SEIR also includes the relocation of Proposed Constrained Linkage 1 (PCL-1) of the Western Riverside County’s Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan (MSHCP), which is located south, and generally east of the project site.
Green River Ranch Project Amendment
The potential environmental impacts of the amended project are similar to the environmental impacts already evaluated in the 2001 EIR. In the areas of air quality, and transportation, the amended project would continue to have significant and unavoidable impacts, even with the implementation of mitigation measures. Table 2 provides a summary of these impacts.
Table 2
Environmental Impact Comparison
Environmental
Impact
Level of
Significance
(Environmental
Impact)
2001 GRR
Specific Plan EIR
Level of
Significance
(Environmental
Impact)
Proposed GRR
Specific Plan
Comparison
Explanation
Air Quality Significant and
Unavoidable
Similar Would exceed the allowable
threshold for pollutant emissions
associated with volatile organic
compounds (VOC) and nitrogen
dioxide (NOx) associated with the
project’s operations. The sources
of the emissions include stationary
sources, which are on-site energy
sources, and the use of certain
products with chemicals such as
cleaning supplies, pesticides,
glues, adhesives, etc., and mobile
sources such as fuel from
passenger vehicles and trucks
accessing the site.
Transportation Significant and
Unavoidable using
Level of Service
(LOS) analysis
and no VMT
analysis (2001
EIR pre-dates the
VMT analysis of
CEQA)
Similar using the
VMT analysis.
Would exceed the Ccity’s daily VMT
threshold. VMT measures the
number of miles that would be
traveled by vehicles associated with
the project. Although the
Subsequent EIR proposes
mitigation measures (ride share
programs, carpooling, etc.) to help
reduce the project’s VMT, no
amount of feasible mitigation would
fully reduce the project’s VMT below
the threshold, and therefore, the
project’s transportation impact is
considered to be significant.
However, the number of daily
vehicle trips generated by the
project would decrease by 61%
from 2001. The original project
showed 11,207 daily trips to and
from the project site and the
proposed project shows 4,370 daily
trips.
Like the 2001 EIR, the City Council has the authority to certify the Final SEIR for the amended project that includes significant and unavoidable environmental impacts, by adopting a statement of overriding consideration that indicates the project would have specific economic, legal, social, technological or other benefits that would outweigh the unavoidable adverse environmental effects and thereby make those effects acceptable.
A statement of overriding consideration is included in Resolution 2025-0007, certifying the Final SEIR, which indicates the benefits of the amended project will:
Implement the goals, objectives, and policies of the current City of Corona General Plan because it protects 103.73 acres of Open Space that will provide residents with opportunities to enjoy the natural environment, provide visual relief from urban development, protect significant plant and animal habitats and protect development from natural environmental hazard (Goal LU-16) and support wildlife conservation and wildlife habitat according to the Western Riverside County Multiple Species Habitat Conversation Plan; develop 49.31 acres for business park land uses that will promote a strong and diversified economic base by attracting quality businesses and encouraging existing businesses to expand their sales, facilities and employment (Goal ED-1), and facilitate the retention and expansion of existing job generating industries within existing and planned industrial areas to allow such industries to remain in Corona (Policy ED-1.5). The average daily vehicular trips will be reduced from 11,207 trips to 4,370 trips, a 61% reduction, when compared to the original project and thereby result in fewer vehicles traveling to the Project site on Green River Road and State Route 91. Provide convenient commercial and industrial/business park opportunities for the community by providing employment and shopping opportunities to existing Corona residents without having to travel to other jurisdictions, supporting the City’s labor and retail markets and sales and property tax revenues that sustain the services provided by the City for its residents and service population. Create an aesthetically pleasing western gateway into the City of Corona because the project will utilize quality building materials, architectural elements, and an abundance of onsite landscaping that enhance the appearance of the Project site from Green River Road and Dominguez Ranch Road while preserving the natural hillsides located south of the business park development within the Open Space land use.
MSHCP Criteria Refinement
In December 2023, the Ccity submitted a Criteria Refinement Analysis (prepared by the applicant’s biology consultant, Glen Lukos Associates) on behalf of the applicant to the Western Riverside County Regional Conservation Authority (RCA), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and California Department of Fish and Wildlife to have PCL-1 relocated westerly of the project site. Development of the land within the specific plan would require the applicant to also design a wildlife linkage that meets the requirements of the MSCHP.
Having PCL-1 relocated would align with the path of travel used by wildlife when crossing underneath the freeway using the existing culverts.
On February 20, 2024, and March 25, 2024, the Ccity and applicant received general agreements from the RCA, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and California Department of Fish and Wildlife to have PCL-1 relocated onto land recently acquired by the RCA. The new alignment is located southwest of the Green River Ranch Specific Plan and outside of Corona’s city limits, within the jurisdiction of Riverside County. The new alignment was considered to be less constrained and superior compared to the current alignment to support wildlife movement.
PLANNING AND HOUSING COMMISSION ACTION:
At its meeting of November 25, 2024, the Planning and Housing Commission considered the subject matter and took the following action:
Motion was made, seconded (Siqueland/Longwell) and carried, with Chair Woody abstaining, that the Planning and Housing Commission adopt Resolution No. 2650 granting GPA2020-0002 as part of Cycle 1 of the General Plan Amendments for 2025, and recommend approval of GPA2020-0002 to the City Council based on the findings contained in the staff report and certify the Subsequent Environmental Impact Report to the Green River Ranch Specific Plan Environmental Impact Report (SCH#2022080640).
The minutes of the Planning and Housing Commission meeting are included as Exhibit
6. PREPARED BY: JOANNE COLETTA, PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR ATTACHMENTS:
1. Exhibit 1 – Resolution No. 2025-007
2. Exhibit 2 - Resolution No. 2025-008
3. Exhibit 3 - Final Subsequent Environmental Impact Report
4. Exhibit 4 - Draft Subsequent Environmental Impact Report available at Draft SEIR Green River Ranch
5. Exhibit 5 – Planning and Housing Commission staff report
6. Exhibit 6 – Minutes of the Planning and Housing Commission meeting of November 25, 2024