Planning commission recommends development‑agreement extension, community payments for Berkshire Logistics Center

The Calimesa Planning Commission voted to recommend that the City Council approve a development agreement extending the life of previously approved entitlements for the Berkshire Logistics Center at Oak Valley Town Center and securing defined community benefit payments and reimbursements tied to future sales tax receipts.

City Manager Will Koval (presented as Will Cobble in the hearing transcript) told the commission the project—an approved industrial/logistics plan on roughly 115 acres—was fully entitled in 2022 but the entitlements are set to expire Sept. 6, 2025. The development agreement would extend the approvals and require immediate and phased payments to the city and contributions toward public infrastructure in the Oak Valley Town Center area.

Koval said the development agreement provides a $200,000 payment to the city within 30 days of the agreement’s effective date, optional two‑year extension fees of $100,000 each if the developer exercises extensions, and a community benefit payment of $0.50 per square foot of industrial building space payable with certificates of occupancy. Staff estimated those per‑building payments could total up to approximately $1,100,000 at full build‑out. The agreement also contains a reimbursement mechanism: if any building generates point‑of‑sale sales tax within the first five years of operation, that sales tax would offset a portion of the developer’s community benefit payments.

Koval emphasized the agreement does not change approved land uses, building sizes or traffic impacts and therefore does not require additional environmental review; staff recommended findings under Public Resources Code section 21166 and CEQA Guidelines sections 15162 and 15164 that no further environmental analysis is required. He said the principal policy rationale is that the development agreement secures timing and tangible benefits the city might not otherwise receive if entitlements simply expired and a similar industrial use were proposed later.

Russell Pierce of RDP Development, speaking for the applicant, said his team and other affected developers are coordinating to build infrastructure — including New Roberts Road and Singleton Road improvements — in phases and that the development agreement provides needed runway to restart construction after earlier financial and performance‑bond complications. Both staff and the applicant referenced the city’s litigation with Everest Reinsurance over performance bonds tied to the original Oak Valley public improvements after the commercial master developer entered liquidation.

Public comment included support from nearby developers who described ongoing coordination on infrastructure cost sharing. A community commenter raised concerns about truck traffic and air‑quality exposure to “sensitive receptors” within a quarter‑mile of project routes, saying project truck movements could affect parts of Calimesa when traffic diverts or during incidents; staff noted a focused traffic analysis appended to the environmental record is available for review and that the approved project does not extend east of Interstate 10.

After questions from commissioners about delay reasons, infrastructure sequencing and the litigation background, the commission adopted a resolution recommending City Council approve the development agreement. The commission’s action was a recommendation; the City Council must take the final vote to adopt the development agreement and any related amendments to the project’s entitlement timeline.