Planning Commission OKs 2-year extension for 334,520-sq.-ft. Magnolia industrial plan

The Corona City Planning and Housing Commission voted 5-0 on Feb. 9 to grant a two-year extension for a precise plan that would allow two industrial buildings totaling 334,520 square feet at 1375 Magnolia Avenue.

Senior planner Rocio Lopez told the commission the applicant, identified in staff materials as Jeremy Mape of B9 Magnolia Owners LLC, filed a timely request to extend the original precise plan (PP2022-0003) that was approved Feb. 12, 2024. Lopez said staff recommended the extension because the applicant is still completing environmental remediation and coordinating permits with outside agencies, including the Department of Toxic Substances Control and Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, and remains in an active plan-check process with the city.

"The applicant is requesting a two-year extension to allow them to complete the overall plan-check process with the city," Lopez said.

Commissioners pressed staff for details about the plan-check history and whether some resubmissions reflected persistent deficiencies. Engineering staff and the planner said multiple plan-check corrections are not uncommon on projects of this scale but that the code requires substantial construction to preserve entitlements automatically; otherwise an extension application is the standard remedy. Commissioners asked whether the commission could grant a shorter, one-year extension; staff confirmed the commission has discretion but noted two years is the common practice.

Gary Edwards, who identified himself as a principal with Western Real Co. and the applicant's development partner, told the commission the team has been meeting frequently with city staff and external agencies. "At the earliest, it'd be 60 to 90 days that we would be able to actually be in the dirt and moving," Edwards said, while warning that encroachment permits from Riverside County Flood Control and BNSF and DTSC site requirements remain to be finalized.

Project materials in the staff report describe Building 1 as roughly 231,370 square feet and Building 2 as about 90,150 square feet on a combined 16.6-acre site. Lopez said plan checks for grading and building plans remain open and that the applicant has approvals in place for wall, fence and landscape plans.

Commissioner Sickl moved to approve the two-year extension; the motion was seconded and passed on a 5-0 roll call. The approval allows more time for the applicant to complete outstanding plan checks and external permitting before the precise plan would otherwise expire on Feb. 12, 2026.

The commission did not receive speaker cards or public comments on the item during the hearing. The approval is limited to a time-extension on the precise plan; no new entitlements were granted at the meeting.