Large Warehouse Project Stalls In Beaumont Following Community Outcry

BEAUMONT, CA — The brakes have been put on a proposed massive warehouse project in Beaumont after pushback from city residents.

For nearly three hours Tuesday night, Beaumont citizens, environmental proponents, some union workers, and others, delivered emotional testimony during a regularly scheduled Planning Commission meeting. Approximately 45 people spoke against the Summit Station industrial project slated for 200 acres along the south side of Cherry Valley Boulevard, east of Interstate 10.

Beaumont Planning Commissioners were swayed. In a 4-1 vote that came in the sixth hour of Tuesday's meeting, the commissioners decided to recommend that City Council not certify an environmental impact report for the project and also reject a general plan amendment, the Summit Station Specific Plan, a tentative parcel map and plot plans.

City Council will now take up the commission's recommendation and decide whether to accept it. That discussion could come during the July 19 City Council meeting.

Commissioner Jessica Black cast Tuesday's dissenting vote.

"I feel the project is premature," Commission Chair Nathan Smith said.

Details on how the city would secure promises made by the applicant were not spelled out in any agreements, the plot plans for the project were problematic, and the city has other sites that would better accommodate a warehouse project, Smith explained.

Commissioners Anthony Colindres and Black expressed concern that public outreach for the project was misleading because it was not pitched as a warehouse development. If approved, the proposed Summit Station project would bring approximately 2.5 million square feet of industrial space, 50,000 square feet of office space and 150,000 square feet of commercial space.

"I would like to see more transparency," Black said.

Beaumont resident Ron Roy called Summit Station a "massive warehouse project with a sprinkling of retail" that would employ a "disposable workforce."

A representative from Golden State Environmental Justice Alliance said the project poses "significant unavoidable impacts" on the environment. The public review period for the project's draft environmental impact report ended June 6.

Some union workers also spoke against the project Tuesday night, including representatives of Ironworkers Local 416 and 433. They alleged that the project applicant — Exeter Cherry Valley Land LLC — showed no interest in working with local labor, and community workforce agreements were not discussed. An Exeter representative responded to the criticism, saying the company would engage with all local labor.

Several representatives of the Laborers' International Union of North America spoke in favor of the project, saying it would bring jobs to the area. According to the applicant, the project would bring 2,800 permanent jobs to Beaumont. In total, approximately 10 people — mostly LIUNA members — spoke in favor of the Summit Station proposal.

To sweeten the project for the city, Exeter also promised a $30 million investment in Beaumont traffic improvements, including the Interstate 10/Cherry Valley Boulevard interchange, and up to a $10 million investment for the buildout of a 123-acre regional park on the Danny Thomas Ranch property. Commissioner Smith said the city needed agreements in place on how and when that funding would be delivered.

The applicant estimated that the city's general fund would see $1.33 million annually as a result of the project, and transient occupancy tax from a four-story hotel planned for Summit Station would generate another $562,100 for city coffers.

The property, which currently falls under the Sunny Cal Specific Plan, is the site of a former poultry ranch and had been targeted for housing that was never built, despite city approvals in 2007 and 2014. Several Summit Station opponents said zoning on the site should remain residential, but several commissioners said the nearby Gateway warehouse complex has spoiled the area's aesthetics.

"Who would want to live across from that monstrosity?" Commissioner Black asked.