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Plans to add almost 2 million square feet of warehouse or industrial space between two Riverside neighborhoods are on hold — perhaps indefinitely — after a panel of elected leaders tabled the project after a long and emotional public hearing.
The March Joint Powers Commission voted 6-1 late Wednesday night, June 12, to place the West Campus Upper Plateau project “off calendar,” which means a majority of commissioners must decide to put the project on a future agenda.
There’s no timetable for doing so, meaning the project could linger without a vote on its fate.
Commissioner and Riverside County Supervisor Kevin Jeffries made the motion to table the project, which would add two “warehouse/industrial” buildings totaling 1.84 million square feet to 818 acres of former military base land sandwiched between Riverside’s Mission Grove and Orangecrest neighborhoods.
“I don’t support the warehouses inside the development,” Jeffries said after the vote.
“I needed to know where the commission was and a motion to take (the project) off-calendar, it does an instant test. Because if everybody’s ready to take it off-calendar, it means they’re not really interested in the project as it’s proposed. And for it to come back now, staff has got to find a majority who wants to bring it back.”
Jeffries added the project is “either going to go into the sunset completely or (the developer is) going to completely rework the project so that it gets community support.”
A lack of support was evident in the almost three-hour hearing held at the Moreno Valley Conference and Recreation Center. A standing-room-only crowd held up “No more warehouse” signs and loudly cheered and clapped as more than 60 of the 73 people who signed up to speak urged the commission to reject the project.
They also booed those who spoke in favor of the project and jeered when commission Chair and Moreno Valley City Councilmember Ed Delgado did things they objected to, such as limiting comments to two minutes per speaker.
After the hearing, March Joint Powers Authority officials and a representative of the developer asked for a delay so they could have time to respond to comments and questions from the public. A postponement would have meant the project would appear on a future commission agenda.
That’s when Jeffries made his motion to table the project. He voted to do so along with Delgado, Moreno Valley Mayor Ulises Cabrera, Riverside City Councilmembers Jim Perry and Chuck Conder and Perris Mayor Michael Vargas.
Perris City Councilmember Rita Rogers voted no, saying she wanted a delay.
The project is on land controlled by the authority, a public agency created to redevelop 3,500 of government surplus land left over when March Air Force Base downsized to an air reserve base in the early 1990s.
The commission overseeing the authority consists of elected officials from Riverside County, Riverside, Perris and Moreno Valley — all jurisdictions bordering authority-managed land.
Commissioners were tasked with approving an environmental analysis, development agreement and other documents related to the project, which would transform mostly vacant land — save for munitions bunkers, a water tank and an old water tower — that was part of the air force base prior to downsizing.
The developer, Lewis Management Corp. of Upland, wants to build a mix of logistics, commercial space, open space and parks on that site, which borders The Grove Community Church and sits south of Alessandro Boulevard, west of Meridian Parkway, east of Barton Street and north of Grove Community Drive.
At the center of the project would be two buildings — one being 1.25 million square feet and the other totaling 587,000 square feet.
While it’s possible the buildings could be warehouses, they also could end up becoming manufacturing or industrial space. Critics say the project could potentially have more than 4 million square feet of warehouses.
The building, which would be 1,000 feet away from any homes, can accommodate logistics and manufacturing and “several major manufacturing companies” have expressed interest in occupying the buildings, said Grace Martin, the March authority’s executive director.
Lewis Senior Executive Vice President Randall Lewis has said that 55% of the project “will be permanently conserved and accessible by the public for hiking and biking.”
The project “significantly exceeds the City of Riverside’s Zoning requirements for building setbacks from industrial to residential,” includes “significant open space buffers” of at least 300 feet and “exceed(s) all Good Neighbor Guidelines established by the local agencies,” Lewis said via email, adding that larger buildings account for just 38% of the buildable land.
In addition, the project will contribute $30 million toward designing and building a 60-acre park and $10 million for a new fire station, Lewis said.
Lewis’ assurances have failed to satisfy critics who argue the project will wreck hiking and biking trails, pollute the air, spoil views, offer substandard jobs and bring heavy truck traffic to an area already inundated with warehouses.
A grassroots group, Riverside Neighbors Opposing Warehouses, formed to organize opposition to the project. It posted signs about Wednesday’s meeting in neighborhoods surrounding the project and used social media to urge residents to show up and express their concerns.
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Courtesy : https://www.pressenterprise.com/2024/06/13/1-84-million-square-foot-warehouse-industrial-project-near-riverside-in-limbo/