Chino council declines to act on out‑of‑boundary sewer request for 14800 Ramona Ave.; item dies for lack of motion

The City Council on Jan. 7 heard a staff report and public comment on a proposed out‑of‑boundary sewer service agreement to allow a Chino Hills‑located car wash at 14800 Ramona Avenue to connect to Chino sewer, but the council took no motion and the item died for lack of a motion.

Staff presentation: Jesus Placencia, Assistant City Engineer, told the council the developer had received a will‑serve letter from Chino because a 10‑inch Chino sewer main is within about 200 feet of the site; the nearest Chino Hills sewer main is roughly 1,200 feet away and would require a long extension and Caltrans approvals to cross State Route 71. Placencia said the sewer‑capacity study confirmed adequate capacity and noted that the government code requires an out‑of‑boundary service agreement between cities for such connections. He also said the request qualifies for an exemption from service contract requirements (because both cities provide water) and that the agreement will be submitted to LAFCO for approval. Chino Hills would provide monthly water‑use data to help calculate sewer fees.

Public comment and council concerns: two written speakers — Sam Souza and Dickie Vandermuellen, both identifying as lifetime Chino residents and local business owners — spoke in opposition. Souza said the car wash would be a direct competitor to his business and questioned the benefit to Chino. Vandermuellen said the developer would “dump more than a 1,000,000 gallons of wastewater a month” into Chino’s system (presented as his assertion). Council members questioned precedent and competitiveness, asked whether Chino Hills could have provided service, and discussed past examples where neighboring cities served developments when Chino lacked nearby infrastructure.

Staff noted potential benefits for Chino, including recycled‑water credit for conveyed flows and development impact fees paid to Chino if the site connects to Chino sewer. Council members also discussed related projects (an industrial building served by Ontario and a proposed cultural center on Benson Avenue that Ontario would serve) and asked staff to research whether reciprocal arrangements exist.

Outcome: no motion was offered; the mayor observed that without a motion the item dies. Council members suggested returning the item to staff for further analysis rather than taking immediate action.