Developer, council negotiate screening for 5642 Pegasus Drive; staff to add 3-year wall requirement

Developers of a proposed flex-industrial and light‑industrial office-warehouse at 5642 Pegasus Drive told the Temple City Council during a work session that they will provide the required 20‑foot landscape buffer adjacent to single‑family homes but prefer to fulfill the screening requirement with an 8‑foot precast concrete wall instead of trees and shrubs.

City staff said they spoke with adjacent property owners, who told staff they preferred a wall or dense screening. The developer, Sreedhar Vasipalli, said he is willing to build the precast wall but that the project will be built in phases, and the buildings the council discussed as triggers for the wall (identified as Buildings 1, 2, 7, 3 and 4 in the developer’s phasing) are not all scheduled for immediate construction.

Council members and staff discussed how to ensure the screening is installed even if later phases are delayed. Council suggested tying a firm deadline to building activity rather than leaving the requirement open‑ended. The working language discussed would require installation of the precast wall within a set period — council suggested three years as a potential limit — measured from issuance of the applicable building permit or by the time a later phase (Buildings 3 and 4, as discussed) begins, whichever occurs first. Staff said it would add the clarified timing language to the agenda packet and the draft condition for the regular meeting.

The interchange focused on two planning concerns: (1) ensuring the 20‑foot buffer requirement is honored either as trees/shrubs or as an 8‑foot precast concrete wall adjacent to existing homes, and (2) creating an enforceable deadline so the project cannot complete early phases while permanently avoiding the screening. The developer said he can install temporary shrubs and trees if later phases are delayed and will install the precast wall before construction of the identified later buildings.

No formal vote on the project occurred during the work session; council members instructed staff to incorporate the clarified screening requirement and timing into the materials for the regular meeting so the council can consider the added condition when they take action.

Details recorded in the meeting included the project address (5642 Pegasus Drive), the 20‑foot landscape buffer required by the UDC, the developer’s proposed substitute (8‑foot precast concrete wall), and the draft timing mechanism (installation within three years of issuance of the applicable building permit or upon commencement of the later phase that includes Buildings 3 and 4).