Upland council approves Via Serena specific plan and certifies EIR for 65‑home project

The Upland City Council on June 9 approved the Via Serena specific plan, authorizing a general plan amendment, zone change, the specific plan itself, and a tentative tract map and development plan that will allow construction of 65 single‑family homes on about 9.2 acres in the Fifteenth Street basin area.

The council certified a final environmental impact report (EIR) prepared after a 2020 court challenge set aside an earlier mitigated negative declaration. The EIR concluded mitigation measures and monitoring can reduce biological, noise and water‑quality impacts to less‑than‑significant levels and includes a habitat mitigation and monitoring plan (HMMP) for wetlands and riparian planting on the project’s eastern conservation area.

City planning staff said the project will: reconfigure the existing basin to provide flood control and additional pollutant detention; extend Fifteenth Street into the development as a gated, primary access; create an HOA‑maintained park and four pocket parks; and provide a trail and public open‑space loop adjacent to the basin. Homes will range roughly from 2,000 to 2,600 square feet, with three to five bedrooms and two‑car garages. The developer proposes 12 common lots for open space and infrastructure and an HOA to maintain on‑site improvements.

Why this matters: The site was previously the subject of litigation that required further environmental study. Neighbors raised concerns at the public hearing about potential loss of wetlands, whether…