Planning commission refuses Prologis’ request for six‑month continuance on Tennessee/Kansas warehouse proposal

The Redlands Planning Commission on May 14 declined a request from Prologis for a six‑month continuance to revise plans for a proposed warehouse on roughly 11 acres at 301 Tennessee Street and 360 Kansas Street. City staff had told the commission the applicant asked for time to respond to the commission’s prior concerns and new design suggestions, but several commissioners said the problems raised at an earlier hearing — building height, truck throughput, traffic impacts and air quality — would not be solved by a brief delay.

In a staff summary, Brian Foote said the applicant submitted a written continuance request and that the commission could accept or reject it. A Prologis representative told the commission the company is willing to pursue a “substantial” redesign and cited a late-arriving letter from a technical correspondent (Esri) with suggestions on materials, colors and landscape preservation. Speakers from the public, including Julie Lenhart and Mike Pacener, urged denial and — in Lenhart’s case — asked the commission to require a full environmental impact report (EIR) before permitting any warehouse use.

Commissioners pressed staff and the applicant on what substantive changes could be produced in six months. One commissioner said a denial would allow the applicant to reapply with a substantially different project but that the municipal code bars resubmitting a substantially similar application for approximately six months if the commission formally denies entitlements. Multiple commissioners said they were skeptical a six‑month continuance would produce solutions for the site’s scale and traffic problems and expressed concern a continuance could be used to delay and relitigate the issue.

A motion to express intent to deny the applicant’s continuance request and to direct staff to return a denial resolution at the May 28 meeting passed on the record; the meeting recorded a verbal “Aye” and at least one abstention. Staff will prepare a formal resolution for the May 28 meeting reflecting the commission’s direction.

Why this matters: The site fronts Tennessee, a street several commissioners described as incompatible with a large warehouse building’s scale, and the decision to deny a continuance keeps the question of entitlement on an expedited schedule and signals the commission’s skepticism that modest redesigns can address community traffic and air‑quality concerns.

What’s next: Staff will prepare a denial resolution for the commission to consider at its May 28 meeting. If the commission formally denies entitlements, municipal code restrictions will limit resubmission of substantially similar applications for about six months, though an applicant can submit a different project or a substantially revised design.