City of Rialto
Legislation Text
File #: PC-23-675, Version: 1, Agenda #:
For the Planning Commission Meeting of July 26, 2023
TO: Honorable Chairman and Planning Commissioners
APPROVAL: Colby Cataldi, Community Development Director FROM: Daniel Casey, Senior Planner
Conditional Development Permit No. 2022-0002: A request to allow the redevelopment and reuse of an existing industrial site with a 299,780 square foot industrial warehouse building on 13.83 gross acres of land (APN: 0130-191-09) located at the northeast corner of Rialto Avenue and Lilac Avenue within the Light Manufacturing (M-1) zone. A Mitigated Negative Declaration (Environmental Assessment Review No. 2022-0009) has been prepared for consideration in conjunction with the project.
Precise Plan of Design No. 2022-0001: A request to allow the redevelopment of an existing industrial site with a 299,780 square foot industrial warehouse building and associated paving, landscaping, fencing, lighting, and drainage improvements on 13.83 gross acres of land (APN: 0130- 191-09) located at the northeast corner of Rialto Avenue and Lilac Avenue within the Light Manufacturing (M-1) zone. A Mitigated Negative Declaration (Environmental Assessment Review No. 2022-0009) has been prepared for consideration in conjunction with the project.
APPLICANT:
AIREF Rialto Commerce Center II, LP, 4675 MacArthur Court, Suite 625, Newport Beach, CA 92660 LOCATION:
The project site consists of one (1) parcel of land (APN: 0130-191-09) located at the northeast corner of Rialto 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 Public Facility
East Public Facility
South Light Industrial
West Light Industrial
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Location General Plan Designation
Site Light Industrial
North Public Facility
East Public Facility
South Light Industrial
West Light Industrial
Surrounding Zoning Designations
Location Zoning
Site Light Manufacturing (M-1)
North Transportation Corridor (T-C)
East Light Manufacturing (M-1)
South Light Manufacturing (M-1)
West Light Manufacturing (M-1)
Site Characteristics
The project site is comprised of one (1) parcel of land totaling approximately 13.83 gross acres in size with approximate dimensions of 605 feet (north-south) by 985 feet (east-west). The project site is bound on the south by Rialto Avenue and on the west by Lilac Avenue. The property was previously developed into a lumber yard, and the property was occupied by Orange County Lumber Company until the end of 2022. All structures on the property have since been removed.
Surrounding Area
To the north of the project site is a segment of the Pacific Electric Railway line, and further to north, on the other side of the Pacific Electric Railway line, is Bud Bender Park and Rialto Park Cemetery.
To the east of the project site is the Rialto Police Station, to the south, across Rialto Avenue, are various industrial developments and uses, and to the west, across Lilac Avenue, are additional various industrial developments and uses.
ANALYSIS/DISCUSSION:
Project Proposal
The applicant, AIREF Rialto Commerce Center II, LP, proposes to construct a 299,780 square foot industrial warehouse building and install associated paving, landscaping, fencing, lighting, and drainage improvements on the project site. The proposed building will accommodate various storage and distribution uses.
Entitlement Requirements
The following entitlements are required for the applicant’s proposal:
· 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 299,780 square foot industrial warehouse building on the north end of the project site. The proposed layout includes a truck court on the south side of the building and passenger vehicle parking areas along the north, City of Rialto Printed on 7/21/2023Page 2 of 8
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truck court on the south side of the building and passenger vehicle parking areas along the north, east, and west sides of the building. The truck court will accommodate a maximum of 97 trucks and trailers, while the passenger vehicle parking areas will provide for the parking of up to 199 passenger vehicles. The placement of the truck court on the south side of the building will ensure that trucks will not be visible to or pass by any of the sensitive uses to the north of the project site.
Three (3) driveways are proposed to be connected to Lilac Avenue for access - a thirty-two (32) foot wide driveway at the north end of the Lilac Avenue frontage will provide full access for passenger vehicles only, another thirty-two (32) foot wide driveway in center of the Lilac Avenue frontage will provide full access for passenger vehicles only, and a fifty (50) foot wide driveway at the south end of the Lilac Avenue frontage will provide full access for passenger vehicles and right-in/left-out access for trucks. Additionally, one (1) new fifty (50) foot wide driveway connected to Rialto Avenue will provide full access for passenger vehicles and left-in/right-out access for trucks.
Additional on-site improvements include paving, lighting, landscape planters throughout the site, screen walls, and an underground infiltration basin for runoff water quality treatment and retention.
Floor Plan
The floor plan for the proposed building (Exhibit C) indicates that the building will consist of 12,000 square feet of office space and 287,780 square feet of warehouse space. The office space will potentially occupy either the southeast corner of the building and/or the southwest corner of the building, with 6,000 square feet on the ground floor and another 6,000 square feet up above on a second-floor mezzanine. The south side of the building will have up to 38 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 41.5 feet to 49 feet from the finished floor level. The exterior of the building will be of concrete tilt-up wall construction painted with a palette of six (6) different colors - various gray tones and a blue accent.
Additional architectural features of the building include wall panel reveals, metal brow accents, concrete pillars, and glazing.
Parking
The development will have 199 auto-parking spaces, including seven (7) 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
6,000 6,000 1 / 250 1 /
500
24 12
Floor area up to 10,000 square feet
Floor area 10,001 square feet or more
10,000
277,780
1 / 1,000 1 /
2,000
10 139
Total Required/Total Provided 185/199
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Type of Use Floor Area
(square
feet)
Parking
Ratio
Number of
spaces
required
Office Ground floor Above ground
floor Warehouse
6,000 6,000 1 / 250 1 /
500
24 12
Floor area up to 10,000 square feet
Floor area 10,001 square feet or more
10,000
277,780
1 / 1,000 1 /
2,000
10 139
Total Required/Total Provided 185/199
Landscaping
The landscape coverage for the project is 11.3 percent, which exceeds the minimum required amount of 10.0 percent. This includes a twenty-six (26) foot landscape setback along Rialto Avenue, a sixteen (16) foot landscape setback along 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).
Pacific Electric Trail
The Pacific Electric Trail, as it currently exists, is an eighteen (18) mile long multi-use pedestrian and bicycle path that follows the former Pacific Electric Railway from Claremont to Rialto. The Engineering Services Department is currently coordinating with the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority (SBCTA) on an expansion of the trail east of its current terminus at Cactus Avenue. A segment of the planned trail expansion will be immediately adjacent to the entire northern boundary of the project site. In recognition of the planned trail expansion, the applicant proposes to voluntarily contribute $1,634,045 to fully fund the construction of the trail segment between Lilac Avenue and Willow Avenue and other public safety improvements.
Traffic
Urban Crossroads, Inc. prepared a Traffic Analysis (TA), dated June 26, 2023, to assess the project’s potential impacts to local streets and intersections (Exhibit F). The TA estimates that the project will generate approximately 518 daily vehicle trips (866 new PCE daily vehicle trips) with 56 trips in the AM peak hour and 60 trips in the PM peak hour. Trucks will constitute a maximum of 208 of the 518 new daily vehicle trips. In comparison to the vehicle trips generated by the former lumber yard the project will result in an increase of approximately 204 daily passenger vehicle trips and approximately 177 daily truck trips.
The TA analyzed the following 17 intersections in the project vicinity:
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Four (4) of the intersections are anticipated to be impacted when the existing and project generated traffic volumes are combined with cumulative growth and ambient growth without any mitigation. The specific intersections are (1) Cedar Avenue & Rialto Avenue, (2) Cedar Avenue & Valley Boulevard, (3) Cedar Avenue & I-10 Westbound Ramps, and (4) Cedar Avenue & I-10 Eastbound Ramps. The TA recommends various improvements to mitigate potential traffic impacts to these intersections.
The recommended improvements to mitigate the traffic impacts consist of modifying the timing of existing traffic signals, restriping existing right-of-way at the intersection of Cedar Avenue and Valley Boulevard, and adding turn lanes at the intersections of Cedar Avenue & I-10 Ramps. The TA concluded that a “fair share” payment of $47,695 constitutes adequate mitigation.
In addition to the “fair share” fees towards improvements to address cumulative impacts, the applicant will also contribute $228,275 towards the installation of a new traffic signal and new turn lanes at the intersection of Lilac Avenue and Rialto Avenue. Lastly, the applicant will complete the TA recommended modifications to the timing of the traffic signal at the intersection of Cedar Avenue and Rialto Avenue prior to the issuance of a Certificate of Occupancy.
Economic Development Committee
The Economic Development Committee (EDC) reviewed the project on September 20, 2021. The EDC expressed general support for the project and informed the applicant to file the necessary City of Rialto Printed on 7/21/2023Page 5 of 8
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applications. The minutes from the September 20, 2021 EDC meeting are attached as Exhibit G.
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 south and west of the project site. The nearest sensitive uses are the public park and cemetery to the north of the project site and existing single-family residences located to the northwest 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 south 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. 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
The applicant engaged T&B Planning, Inc. to prepare an Initial Study (Environmental Assessment Review No. 2022-0009) for the project in accordance with the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The Initial Study is attached to the agenda report (Exhibit H).
Based on the findings and recommended mitigation within the Initial Study, staff determined that the project will not have an adverse impact on the environment and prepared a Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND). Although the MND identified potential impacts related to biological resources, cultural resources, geology and soils, hazards and hazardous materials, 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’sMitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program (Exhibit I).
The Planning Division published a Notice of Intent to adopt the MND 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 Initial Study to the State City of Rialto Printed on 7/21/2023Page 6 of 8
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Staff also completed a Notice of Completion and distributed copies of the Initial Study to the State Clearinghouse. A thirty (30) day public comment period for the MND began on May 15, 2023 and ended on June 13, 2023. Five (5) comment letters were received during the public comment period.
On June 13, 2023, the Planning Division received four (4) separate comment letters in opposition to the project. The opposition letters were received from Marven Norman with the Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice (CCAEJ), Rialto resident Ana Gonzalez, Rialto resident Danielle Delgado, and a group of thirty-one (31) Rialto residents. The letters generally expressed opposition to the project, requested the preparation of an Environmental Impact Report (EIR), and expressed concerns related to the project’s potential impacts on air quality, noise, and traffic.
Additionally, on June 13, 2023, the Planning Division received a comment letter from Sam Wang, Program Supervisor, with the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD). The comment letter from SCAQMD provided recommendations regarding the cleanup of possible underground storage tanks on the project site, the modeling of mobile source health risk analysis, the modeling of truck idling emissions, the project’s trip generation, and the modeling of land use types.
The comment letters received are attached to the agenda report (Exhibit J).
The Planning Division, in coordination with T&B Planning, Inc., prepared responses to the comment letters. The response to the four (4) opposition letters reaffirmed the preparation of an MND for the project. The analysis performed for the project’sMND was done so to the same standard as that of an EIR. The conclusion of the MND, supported by the evidence within the Initial Study and the technical studies, is that the project would result in less than significant direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts and therefore does not warrant the preparation of an EIR. Additionally, the response addresses the claim that the project is not consistent with City’sGeneral Plan. To the contrary, the project site is designated as Light Industrial by the City’sGeneral Plan and is zoned Light Manufacturing (M-1). Lastly, to address claims that an alternative land use would be preferable over the project due to a purported reduction in air pollution analyses were conducted to determine the actual air quality effects of hypothetical alternative land uses, including a shopping center, a residential development with detached single-family residences, and a residential development with low-rise apartments. The analysis in the response letter demonstrates that the air pollution levels, including greenhouse gases, from a shopping center or an apartment residential project would be more severe than the project’sair pollution levels, and the project’sair pollution levels would be comparable, although slightly greater than would be expected from a single-family residential development on the project site. The response to SCAQMD’scomment letter confirmed the absence of any underground storage tanks, clarified that that same trip generation estimates were used throughout the MND, and explained that the alternative methods of modeling cited would not alter any conclusions with the MND.
The responses to the comments are attached to the agenda report (Exhibit K).
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’sOffice, and mailed public hearing notices to all property owners within 1,000 feet of the project site, as required by State law.
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RECOMMENDATION:
The Planning Division recommends that the Planning Commission:
· Adopt the attached Resolution (Exhibit L) to approve the Mitigated Negative Declaration (Environmental Assessment Review No. 2022-0009) 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 M) to approve Conditional Development Permit No. 2022- 0002 to allow the redevelopment and reuse of an existing industrial site with a 299,780 square foot industrial warehouse building on 13.83 gross acres of land (APN: 0130-191-09), subject to the findings and conditions therein; and
· Adopt the attached Resolution (Exhibit N) to approve Precise Plan of Design No. 2022-0001 to allow the redevelopment of an existing industrial site with a 299,780 square foot industrial warehouse building and associated paving, landscaping, fencing, lighting, and drainage improvements on 13.83 gross acres of land (APN: 0130-191-09), subject to the findings and conditions therein.
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