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Planning commission recommends Pedley Town Center plan be added to Jurupa Valley general plan
Summary
The Planning Commission voted to recommend that the City Council adopt the Pedley Town Center Plan as an area plan of the Jurupa Valley General Plan and an addendum to the 2017 General Plan EIR; staff said the plan provides a nonregulatory "road map" for future public realm and private investments and noted implementing zoning work will follow.
Jurupa Valley planning commissioners voted to recommend that the City Council adopt the Pedley Town Center Plan as an area plan to the Jurupa Valley General Plan and to adopt an addendum to the General Plan Environmental Impact Report.
Jean Ward, lead staff on the Pedley Town Center effort, presented the plan and summarized the community-driven process that produced it. Ward said the plan translates goals in the 2017 Jurupa Valley General Plan into a more detailed, area-specific vision for Pedley: improving safety and multimodal access (including pedestrian, bicycle and equestrian connections), reinvigorating small commercial centers, increasing transit ridership at the Pedley Metrolink station, preserving community character and natural resources (including improved connections to the Santa Ana River), and identifying prioritized implementation steps.
Ward said the plan was developed with community input through an online survey, three publicly noticed study sessions with the Planning Commission and City Council, and follow-up discussions. The plan identifies four focus areas within Pedley where change is more likely because large vacant or underused parcels exist: the Pedley transit-station area (a potential transit village), a civic center district around city facilities, the Limonite Village area with potential residential capacity, and the Southeast Employment District with existing industrial uses. Ward said the plan is intended as a long-range strategic road map; adoption as an area plan integrates the vision into the General Plan (as an appendix to the Land Use Element) but does not itself rezone land or entitle projects.
The staff presentation noted funding and implementation work already underway: Jurupa Valley received a Senate Bill 2 planning grant to prepare the plan, and more recently the city received a regional planning grant (REAP 2 / SCAG) to develop implementing zoning and development standards; staff said the zoning work is expected to come back to the commission in mid-2026.
Commissioners asked for clarification about the phrase "taming Limonite" that appears in the plan. Consultants and staff explained that the phrase refers to slowing and calming Limonite Avenue through the Pedley town center so the corridor prioritizes multimodal safety rather than acting strictly as a high-speed regional thoroughfare. The plan offers several possible design concepts (including undercrossings and streetscape alternatives) and recommends further corridor-level design work in the city's forthcoming corridors plan.
Public comment included concerns about slowing traffic on Limonite pushing traffic onto neighborhood cut-throughs, worries about safety if bike lanes are only painted (not protected), objections to potential infill housing behind commercial centers from residents who said they moved to the area for horse properties, questions about a gas pipeline under a potential development parcel, and requests for clarity on Downey Street park financing; staff noted the plan is a vision-level document and that specific entitlements, infrastructure and funding would be addressed as projects and implementing regulations advance.
Ward told commissioners that the plan includes a new "findings of consistency" section to guide staff review of future development submittals until implementing zoning regulations are adopted.
Motion and outcome: Commissioner [name not specified in transcript] moved to recommend adoption of the Pedley Town Center Plan as an area plan of the Jurupa Valley General Plan and to adopt an addendum to the 2017 General Plan EIR; another commissioner seconded. The motion passed by voice vote; the transcript records the motion, second and "motion passes," with no roll-call tally.
Ending: The Planning Commission forwarded the Pedley Town Center Plan and the EIR addendum to the City Council for final action and staff will coordinate the next phase (zoning and development standards) under the REAP 2/SCAG planning grant.
