SENTRE, a San Diego-based, vertically integrated real estate investment firm, has completed the disposition of Azusa Center, a two-building industrial property in Azusa. JAR Commercial Investments acquired the asset for$20.5 million.
Situated on 3.6 acres at 301 and 411 N. Aerojet Ave., Azusa Center features 75,081 square feet of industrial space. The two buildings offer 22-foot to 26-foot clear heights, concrete tilt-up construction, ESFR fire systems, three dock-high doors and four ground-level doors. At the time of sale, the property was fully leased.
The City of Chino has taken the first step to acquire the former Heman G. Stark Youth Correctional Facility on Euclid Avenue south of Merrill Avenue in Chino.
The City Council voted to support legislation that would initiate the negotiation process for the state-owned property at 15180 Euclid Ave.
The youth correctional facility opened in 1960 and closed in 2010 in response to budget constraints and laws placing youth offenders in county facilities. After the facility closed, it was used as a reception center for the California Institution for Men.
Although the facility is not currently in use, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation keeps the utilities running in case the site needs to be reactivated.
The City of Chino Hills will resume normal policies of expiring building permits effective March 1, 2023. The Chino Hills City Council had previously authorized a hold on expiring building permits that had not received a successful inspection within 180 days to support homeowners and businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Permits issued prior to September 1, 2022, which have not passed a successful inspection between September 1, 2022, and March 1, 2023, are at risk of expiring.
Under California Building Code (CBC), building permits are valid for 180 days from permit issuance and expire automatically unless construction has commenced, and the project has had a successful inspection within that time frame. CBC does not require notification of a pending expiration to the permit applicant; however, the City will mail a courtesy notice of the expiring permit to both the applicant and the property owner advising them they have ten days to either pass a required inspection or request an extension.
The City would like to remind residents that sometimes contractors may pull the required permit for the job but then require the homeowner to call Building & Safety for a final inspection. This is especially common with water heater change-outs, photovoltaic system (solar) installations, and re-roofing permits.
Building permit applicants may request a one-time extension by emailing a written request to communitydevelopment@chinohills.org. If the permit expires without requesting an extension, the builder or the homeowner must obtain a new permit, which will be subject to any building code changes since the issuance of the original permit and may require payment of additional permit fees. Expired permits are then referred to Code Enforcement for resolution.
For questions regarding your active building permit or on requesting an extension, contact Building & Safety at (909) 364-2780.
As of February 8, the first and most significant phase of the Canyon Loop Trail project was completed This is a week prior to the nesting season for native birds such as the California Gnatcatcher and Cactus Wren. The improvements on the hardpan trail were successful thanks to the efforts by several City departments, landscape architects, project engineers, biologists, grant managers, Native American monitors, US Fish and Wildlife and CA Fish and Wildlife.
The trail now includes a safer trail experience and improved amenities such as three benches, a new stairway, gabion walls, water diverters to protect the trail from erosion, V-swales, a water velocity reducer to protect the blue line stream, timber fencing, directional trail markers, and overall trail compaction to ensure a safe experience for residents. In addition to those amenities, City staff will install two site maps and one flora/fauna interpretive panel over the next several weeks and then return in September (after the nesting season) to install three shade structures over each bench. Despite the heavy rains over the project period, the team took advantage of these weather events which led to real time adjustments and the placement of additional water diverters to further minimize erosion and meet the actual trail needs.
Plans, specifications, and actual trail conditions change over time and the project team made every effort to be proactive when considering the long-term viability of the trail and surrounding habitat. The team will continue to work with all consultants at US Fish and Wildlife and CA Fish and Wildlife as staff prepares the Habitat Mitigation and Monitoring Program (HMMP). In short, this program addresses the environmental impact this project included and will provide a five-year plan which includes on-site vegetation restoration to ensure the revegetation of the habitat is at a greater amount than the take during the project.
On February 7, the El Monte City Council unanimously approved a resolution which established guidelines for the enforcement of existing laws regarding public right-of-way obstructions and fire hazards. The resolution will reinforce the City’s ability to enforce local public safety laws in order to address objective health, safety, and welfare concerns that have increased in recent years due to unpermitted vendors.
The resolution takes effect immediately, authorizing the City’s Enforcement Officers to take the following actions:
· Order to Cure or remove theFire Hazard or Obstruction
· Issue a warning or administrative citation
· Impound Equipment creating Fire Hazard or Obstruction, if individual fails to cure or remove the item
· Individuals will have the opportunity to reclaim their impounded equipment within 60 days. After 60 days, unclaimed equipment will be forfeited
Amendments and Codes the City of El Monte will enforce include:
· 2022 CA Fire Code Title 24, Part 9, Section 1.11.2.1: Assigns enforcement powers to both the chief of the fire department and the chief building official
· CA Fire code Title 32, Section 104.5.1: Allows the county fire code official to authorize the El Monte Police Department to enforce the LA County Code
o Section 307.6 of Title 32 of the LA County Code states: “A person shall not build, light, maintain, or cause or permit to be built, lighted, or maintained, any open outdoor fire or use or cause or permit to be used, any open outdoor fire for any purpose” unless permitted or specifically exempted.
· 2017 Los Angeles County Fire Code and the 2016 California Fire Code: Authorizes the City to “adopt additional regulations relating to fire protection and fire safety”.
In addition, the City will also enforce the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to ensure that City sidewalks are unobstructed. Any individual or business found obstructing the public right-of-way or violating the CA Fire Code without proper permitting will be at-risk of having their equipment impounded by a City Enforcement Officer.
Through this resolution, theCity of El Monte will be able to promote the safety and well-being of its residents, businesses, and visitors.
Clearwater Living has opened Clearwater at Glendora, a 117-unit assisted living and memory care community in Glendora.
The property is a two-story, 117,000-square-foot property offering 88 assisted living and 29 memory support apartments with studio, companion, one- and two-bedroom layouts. It is the only assisted living and memory care community in Glendora, according to the developer.
Clearwater at Glendora is the company’s 10th seniors housing community in California, Arizona and Nevada, with plans for additional developments in the pipeline.
The La Verne City Council approved a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the City and the La Verne Firefighters’ Association (LVFA). The new MOU, which includes updated benefits for LVFA members, is a reflection of the strong partnership between the City of La Verne and the LVFA and is effective for the next four years. The agreement includes salary adjustments, classification changes, special duties compensation and education incentives.
According to California law, the City of La Verne is required to meet with recognized employee groups, such as LVFA, to negotiate wages, benefits and working conditions. City staff and LVFA representatives have been meeting since July to negotiate new terms and modernize the agreement.
The new MOU between the City and LVFA includes a number of updates that will help ensure La Verne remains competitive with other jurisdictions in terms of salary and benefits. These updates include salary adjustments, classification and assignment changes, special duties compensation and education incentives. The salary adjustments will be supported by Measure LV revenue funds and will be adjusted to the market median for the next four years. The MOU also modifies how paramedic bonuses are distributed to better reflect the duties performed by employees.
For the first time, the MOU recognizes special assignments completed by LVFA members, similar to those provided to La Verne Police Officer Association (LVPOA) members. Additionally, there are new and enhanced considerations for educational accomplishments, which serve to benefit both the City and LVFA members by enhancing the Fire Department’s knowledge and service capabilities. These considerations are similar to those provided to law enforcement personnel through the Police Officer Standards and Training (POST) program.
KB Homes announced the grand opening of its newest master-planned community, Sunset Ranch.
The new neighborhood located in Ontario, California and will host many planned amenities, including a park with a dog park, children's playground, sports field, picnic areas and pickleball courts. The homebuilder's first new community within the master plan, Torrey at Sunset Ranch, will be the first to open and feature new homes designed for the way people live today, with attractive design features like modern kitchens overlooking large great rooms, expansive bedroom suites with walk-in closets, and ample storage space. The new floorplans feature up to five bedrooms and three baths. Families will appreciate that the master plan is zoned for the award-winning Ontario-Montclair School District.
Torrey at Sunset Ranch is situated close to Highway 60, Interstate 15 and Interstate 10, providing easy access to the greater Los Angeles area's major employment centers and the Ontario International Airport. The new community is also convenient to shopping, dining and entertainment at Eastvale Gateway, Cloverdale Marketplace and Costco.
The Torrey at Sunset Ranch sales office and model home are open for walk-in visits and private in-person tours by appointment. Homebuyers also have the flexibility to arrange a live video tour with a sales counselor. Pricing begins from the $690,000s.
The city of Pomona has secured funds to build a section of the San Gabriel Valley Greenway Network. In late January, the state awarded a $11.3 million Active Transportation Program (ATP) Cycle 6 grant for bikeway construction. The design (which hasn’t been completed yet) was paid for with $1.6 million from Metro’s Measure M sales tax.
The San Jose Creek Multi-Use Bikeway will run 3.5 miles diagonally from Cal Poly Pomona at Temple Avenue to residential Murchison Avenue just south of the 10 Freeway.
The San Jose Creek flood control channels run directly next to several schools, including Arroyo Elementary, Marshall Junior High, and Ganesha High School. There will be lighting along the entire stretch of the trail, but there will be no restrooms built on the path
This bikeway has been in the process since 2014. The project map shows a handful of existing bikeways that the San Jose Creek bikeway will connect to, and many proposed bikeways. Guerrero estimates the city could break ground in summer of 2024, with community input taking place this summer.
A planned high-speed rail system connecting Las Vegas with LA via Rancho Cucamonga moved another step closer to fruition on February 21st when Brightline West announced it has entered into an agreement with 24 rail unions. The agreement commits to using unionized labor to operate and maintain the planned $8-$10B system.
Brightline, which already runs a high-speed rail between Miami and West Palm Beach in Florida, plans to connect Las Vegas with Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., 220 miles southwest, via 200 mph passenger trains that run mainly within the median of Interstate 15. Brightline projects an average travel time of two hours and 15 minutes.
According to Brightline, its high-speed rail line would eliminate 3 million cars annually from the travel corridor and create 35K construction jobs — in addition to 1,000 permanent jobs once it begins operating.
Brightline West could break ground later this year, depending on the Federal Railroad Administration’s decision on the project’s environmental assessment and funding.
Funding for the project’s construction would consist of a mix of federal grants and private activity bonds. So far, the US Department of Transportation approved $1B in private activity bonds, with the actual borrowing up to the states of California and Nevada. In November 2022, Bloomberg reported that Brightline West may soon ask California to issue $200M in private activity bonds. Brightline hopes to secure $2 billion in federal grants.
Planning for a high-speed rail link connecting Las Vegas with Southern California began in 2009 when the Federal Railroad Administration completed a draft environmental plan for a project, which was then known as DesertXpress. Brightline acquired the project in 2018.
Originally, plans called for a California terminus in Victorville, Calif., a remote desert city 80 miles northwest of LA. In October 2022, Brightline brought its terminus 40 miles closer to LA by purchasing 5 acres for a station in the city of Rancho Cucamonga. From there, passengers will be able to travel the last 40 miles to LA’s Union Station via Metrolink’s adjacent San Bernardino line.
In July 2021, Brightline purchased 110 acres for its Las Vegas terminus station at Las Vegas Boulevard between Warm Springs and Blue Diamond roads, only three miles from the southern end of the Las Vegas Strip.
Brightline West is also expected to include a stop at the Southern Nevada Supplemental Airport, Las Vegas’ second major airport. Still in the planning stages, SNSA is expected to open by 2037 between Primm and Jean.Nev. The airport would take the stress off the nearing-capacity Harry Reid International Airport by hosting up to 35 million travelers per year. It would be located 30 miles south of the Strip — a trip that can take much longer than 30 minutes on the I-15 during peak travel times.
The City of San Dimas and the Metro Gold Line Foothill Construction Authority (Construction Authority) have reached a settlement agreement regarding an environmental lawsuit filed by the City on August 26, 2022 as well as a breach of contract claim the City filed against the Authority.
The settlement agreement finalizes the appraised value of the San Dimas Park and Ride Lot near San Dimas Avenue and Railway Street at nearly $4.45 million and provides additional mitigations to the City valued at approximately $1 million. The Construction Authority will continue its condemnation of the 2.5-acre property.
However, the City has more tools now to protect surrounding neighborhoods and businesses from traffic and parking impacts. Among the additional mitigations, the Construction Authority will provide strip of land with the appropriate environmental clearances between Cataract Avenue and Monte Vista Avenue and north of Railway Street.
Options for land use may include parking expansion, driveway construction to reduce traffic impacts or other mitigation measures. The Construction Authority will also perform additional work, including:
• Construction Authority will work with Gibson TransportationConsulting to complete parking management plan, will add 100 3-hour parking signs on locations determined by the City and prepare a plan for the City to implement;
• Installation of speed humps on Commercial Street;
• Assessing and changing traffic signal timing to maximize the flow of traffic;
• Implementing bus stop-related improvements on Bonita Avenue aligned with the City’s standard canopies;
• Completing street striping in front of a neighboring condominium development to keep the street clear from traffic entering and exiting the Park and Ride;
• Extending the left turn pocket on northbound San Dimas Avenue onto westbound Commercial Street to reduce vehicle traffic impacting northbound San Dimas Avenue;
• Adding decorative and protective railing to the new median on San Dimas Avenue to protect from pedestrians entering the San Dimas roadway outside of marked pedestrian crosswalks;
• Construction Authority will conduct utility and irrigation work at Freedom Park due to the reconfiguration of the entrance to the Park and Ride. Includes the addition of 3 Sycamore trees and shrub and lawn planting consistent with existing landscaping;
• Installing curb modifications on Commercial Street to prohibit vehicles exiting the Park and Ride from Commercial Street from turning right only on CommercialStreet;
• Settlement agreement does not change the Authority’s obligations under the Final SEIR.
South El Monte is only 2.3 square miles large. It has some 21,000 residents, 2,400 businesses, and soon it will have 44 upgraded crosswalks near its nine school campuses. On Wednesday, February 8th, the city closed its Request For Proposals (RFP) for engineering and design services for its Safe Routes To School project. This is funded with a $1,637,000 grant from the state Active Transportation Program (ATP) Cycle 5.
23 sites across the city will have a mixture of crosswalks restriped, new signage installed (some with flashing beacons), added pedestrian countdowns, raised pavement markers, new overhead signals, and touched up pavement legends.
The primary focus for the city are the sites adjacent to the three schools with the highest enrollments in the city: Monte Vista Elementary(614), Potrero K-8 School (835), and South El Monte High School (1,198).
Monte Vista Elementary is located on Thienes Avenue, three sets of restripings are planned along Thienes (at Penn Mar Avenue, Leafdale Avenue, and Maxson Road), with flashing beacons at both ends of the trio. Right in front of the school, Thienes at Leafdale, stop legends will be repainted.
Up at the city’s north end, Potrero K-8 School will have two restriped yellow ladder crosswalks painted immediately in front of it on Fern Street and Tamora Avenue. This is away from the school’s busy pickup/drop-off area on Potrero Avenue; the crosswalks will connect to the staff parking lot.
At South El Monte High, improvements are set for the small neighborhood beside the school’s back gate. These include a set of flashing beacons on the stop signs on Andrews Street which connects to Santa Anita via Lexington-Gallatin Road and a re-striped crosswalk with flashing beacons coming out the back gate on Farmer Avenue.
In September 2016, Governor Brown signed into law Senate Bill 1383 (SB 1383), establishing methane emissions reduction targets in a statewide effort to reduce emissions of short-lived climate pollutants. SB 1383 establishes targets to:
Achieve a 50% reduction in the level of the statewide disposal of organic waste from the 2014 level by 2020 and a 75% reduction by 2025.
Recover not less than 20% of currently disposed food for human consumption by 2025.
SB 1383 requires jurisdictions to implement mandatory organic waste collection and recycling in this statewide effort to divert organic waste from landfills.
Upland residents are now required to separate their food waste from other trash and recycling. Watch the City of Upland's YouTube video to learn more about Upland's food waste recycling program and how to collect and recycle food waste at home. To assist with this requirement, The City of Upland and Burrtec Waste Industries are offering FREE optional food waste pails to help you collect and recycle your food waste. You can pick up a pail during regular business hours from the following locations (Upland residents only, one per household):
Upland City Yard
1370 N Benson Ave.
Monday - Thursday: 8:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Gibson Senior Center
250 N 3rd Ave.
Monday - Friday: 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Upland City Hall
460 N Euclid Ave.
Monday - Thursday: 8:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Upland Public Library
450 N Euclid Ave.
Monday - Thursday: 10:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Friday - Saturday: 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
As of last quarter, the City has issued approximately 1,200 building permits, which is a 21.5% increase in the number of building permits issued around the same time, last year. The City anticipates that building permit numbers will continue to rise as newly approved residential and commercial projects are finalized. Building permits include residential additions, Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs), Solar System projects, commercial tenant improvements, and new construction. Building activity continues to be robust and Walnut will continue to implement new and innovative efforts to process permits as efficiently as possible.
The City of West Covina is slated to receive $2.6 Million in Active Transportation Program grant funds for the West Covina Safe Routes to School & Pedestrian Safety Project. The project will go before the SCAG Regional Council in April and the California Transportation Commission in June. The Active Transportation Program is a highly competitive grant application program that was created by California’s Senate Bill 99 to encourage increased use of active modes of transportation such as walking and biking.
The West Covina Safe Routes to School & Pedestrian Safety Project focuses on school and pedestrian safety improvements. The $2.6 million dollar grant will provide funding for school and pedestrian safety improvements at 21 locations citywide at both signalized intersections and uncontrolled crosswalk locations adjacent to schools, city parks, and areas where there is a high percentage of pedestrian activity. The project aims to promote walking through increased pedestrian safety enhancements.
The money will be used to upgrade signalized intersections with audible pedestrian countdown signals, and install new high visibility crosswalk striping, larger advanced pedestrian warning signs, raised pavement markers, pavement legends and yield lines, blinking STOP signs, and radar speed feedback signs at corridors approaching school crosswalks.
This project is being recommended for award and those recommendations will be finalized at the June meeting of the California Transportation Commission.