The General Plan Advisory Committee on June 30, 2025 recommended initiating consideration of a foundation-component general-plan amendment (FCGPA 24047) in the Cherry Valley area to reclassify portions of land from agriculture and rural community very-low-density residential to community development low-density residential and community commercial retail. The applicant, represented by Travis Heath of West Coast Entitlement, said the change would support a half-acre subdivision pattern and a five-acre commercial strip intended to serve the growing local population.

Travis Heath described regional context, noting multiple specific plans and recent development in adjacent areas and saying the site is well connected to schools and regional circulation. Heath told committee members the proposed change would align lot sizes with nearby subdivisions and provide a transition between denser development to the south and rural parcels to the north and west.

Kelly Atencio, a Nancy Avenue resident immediately across the street from part of the proposal, spoke in opposition and urged the county to preserve the one-house-per-acre character of Cherry Valley. Atencio raised concerns about increased traffic on Cherry Valley Boulevard and local streets, potential annexation pressure from the city of Beaumont, the scale of proposed residential growth (she said "148 new residences" in the area would be too many), and the impact of commercial retail adjacent to existing ranching operations. She asked the committee to limit lot-size changes and reduce the amount of commercial frontage along Cherry Valley Boulevard.

Heath said the applicant is open to community input and to shifting the commercial frontage away from Nancy Avenue to reduce direct impacts on adjacent residences; he also said half-acre lots could still accommodate animal-raising activities typical in the area. Committee discussion focused on transitions in lot size, traffic impacts and the location of commercial uses. A committee member who lives in a rural area told attendees that while rural character is important, a 20,000-square-foot lot (about half an acre) can maintain a rural lifestyle in many nearby communities and supported recommending initiation with conditions that the applicant work on transitions and traffic mitigation as the project advances.

GPAC’s initiation recommendation moves the proposed FCGPA 24047 to Planning Commission and, if recommended there, to the Board of Supervisors; initiation does not approve zoning changes, subdivision maps or any environmental determinations.