Riverside County Supervisors Affirm Fast-Track Status for Older Projects

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA - The Board of Supervisors Tuesday signed off on an amended fast-track policy to ensure that projects granted expedited vetting by the Riverside County Economic Development Agency over two years ago remain in the pipeline.

In a 3-0 vote -- with Supervisors John Tavaglione and Chuck Washington absent -- the board approved the addition of the clarifying provisions to policy A-32, which underwent revision at the request of Supervisor Kevin Jeffries in September 2014.

At the time, Jeffries expressed concern that large-scale developments were not receiving the appropriate level of scrutiny. He authored an amendment to A-32, then approved by the entire board, mandating that projects seeking the construction of 250,000-square-foot warehouses and distribution centers undergo analysis by the five-member planning commission before reaching the board.

Jeffries argued that environmental and community quality-of-life issues could be ironed out by the commissioners before the board attempted to tackle them.

Under the prior fast-track policy, as long as they were reviewed by the Transportation and Land Management Agency, developments over 150,000 square feet could be given fast-track status -- if they had the potential of creating 40 full-time jobs, generating a capital investment of $5 million or more, or netting $25 million in taxable sales.

The pre-amended policy permitted such projects to bypass the planning commission and go directly to the board for consideration.

Under the amended policy, the board can still bring forward mega construction projects for approval, without planning commission vetting, but a four-fifths vote is required to make that happen.

EDA's clarifying provisions simply state that development applications submitted on or before the effective date of the board's last revision to A-32 - - Sept. 9, 2014, -- and granted fast-track status by EDA will continue to receive expedited handling.

The number of projects that might have been impacted without Tuesday's action was not disclosed.

– By City News Service / Image via Shutterstock