Council continues appeal over Waterman Business Center nitrogen tank; parties given 45 days to negotiate

The San Bernardino City Council on Wednesday continued for 45 days a disputed appeal over conditions attached to an administrative development permit for a 9,000‑gallon outdoor liquid nitrogen tank at 379 East Industrial Way, ordering the tenant and the Waterman Business Center Association to try to reach an agreement before the matter returns to the council on Nov. 19, 2025.

The matter reached the council after the planning commission restored conditions of approval (conditions 20–26) that city staff had removed in an amended administrative development permit. The restored conditions address truck parking and routing, hours for semi‑truck deliveries, landscaping and screening, disposal of waste, storm‑drain protection and similar site controls at the 12‑building industrial complex in Ward 3.

Why it matters: the dispute blends a procedural disagreement over whether the association’s appeal was timely with substantive concerns from neighboring tenants about large truck deliveries, safety and property management. The tenant and its attorney argued the appeal was untimely and that the city’s amendment created vested rights; the association and its attorney said the planning commission properly weighed safety and nuisance evidence and that the conditions are necessary to protect other businesses and people in the center.

City staff and the planning commission background

Gabriel Elliott, the city’s director of community development, told the council that staff issued Administrative Development Permit (ADP) ADP‑22.02 for the installation of an approximately 9,000‑gallon outdoor liquid nitrogen tank and that conditions 20–26 were added to govern truck parking, ingress/egress, hours of operation, screening and other site controls. Elliott said the Association (Waterman Business Center…