Council denies appeal, upholds planning commission's EIR addendum for Toyota-Ontario Business Park parcel map

The Ontario City Council voted unanimously to uphold the planning commission's decision to accept an addendum to the Ontario Plan Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for tentative parcel map number 20147, a subdivision and development plan proposing industrial buildings at the southeast corner of Harupa Street and Milliken Avenue.

Amalia Bully Fuentes, representing Supporters Alliance for Environmental Responsibility and appearing with an expert letter from Soil Water Air Protection (SWAP), argued the addendum was inadequate because it relied improperly on the 2010 Ontario Plan EIR and failed to include a phase I site assessment, quantify construction and operational air emissions and greenhouse gases, and evaluate related health risk impacts. "The addendum incorrectly states that the proposed warehouse facilities being considered today were analyzed in the environmental impact report for the Ontario plan in 2010," Fuentes said, and requested the council reject the addendum and instead require review under the 1993 Toyota specific plan EIR.

The city attorney advised the council that, under the city's appeal procedures and CEQA guidelines, the council's review is limited to issues that were raised at the planning commission. He said the points in Fuentes’s letters had not been raised at the planning commission and therefore were not properly before the council this evening. He cited Public Resources Code section 21,151(c) and related guidelines in explaining the procedural constraint and recommended denying the appeal for that reason.

Following discussion, the council moved to uphold the planning commission’s approval of the addendum and the tentative parcel map; the motion passed with an electronic vote of 5–0.

The ruling preserves the planning commission’s environmental finding and allows the project approvals to proceed to subsequent implementation steps, subject to any additional conditions or permits required by staff and regulatory agencies.