Diamond Bar Honda Site Moratorium Extended One Year

Property owners hoping to develop the vacant Diamond Bar Honda site will have to wait another year to move forward with plans.

The Diamond Bar City Council Tuesday night voted 3-0 to approve extending a moratorium prohibiting development of the property at Grand Avenue and the 57/60 freeway interchange.  Councilwomen Ling-Ling Chang and Carol Herrera were absent. 

The one-year extension of the moratorium comes as a previous ban was set to expire this month and follows the council’s approval in February of a $55,000 market analysis that is underway for the site.

The Honda dealership has been dark since around 2006, according to city staff. With the Burger King closing Jan. 31, the property is totally vacant.

The market study is expected to take 12 to 16 weeks to complete, Community Development Director Greg Gubman said.

The moratorium will give staff time to draft development and zoning standards for the property and complete the study, he said.

“The former Honda and Burger King parcels… possess unique characteristics and opportunities for reuse in ways not possible anywhere else in the city,” Gubman said.

The close proximity to the freeway and the isolation from potential incompatible land uses are among the factors that make the property different from other sites in the city, he said.

The Honda dealership moved to the City of Industry, as Caltrans started its plans to construct a direct westbound onramp to the freeway, according to city officials.  Plans for the property are further complicated by a proposed NFL stadium project that could be built next door in Industry.

Caltrans’ plan to revamp the on-ramp would take just under an acre of land from the current property.  However, the city has an agreement with Industry to grant right-of-way to a stadium, if it is built, that would offset the loss.

City Manager Jim DeStefano told the council last month that city originally issued the moratorium due to private party discussions regarding land uses for the site that officials felt would have “grossly underutilized the property.”

Grand Avenue gets around 40,000 trips per day in traffic, he said.  The 60/57 interchange sees about 350,000 trips per day.

The 4.5-acre Honda site could be ideal for a hotel, restaurants, and other retail that caters to the business traveler or commuter, he said.

The analysis will look at potential uses for the property with a proposed NFL stadium next door and without one.  City of Industry officials have said that if the stadium does not go forward, they may develop the land next to the Honda site into a business center.