The Milpitas City Council unanimously denied an appeal on Dec. 2 and affirmed the Planning Commission’s approval of entitlements for a new industrial and distribution building at 1000 Gibraltar Drive.

City staff described the proposed project as a single-story, 487,564-square-foot warehouse and office facility on about 28.96 acres with 781 vehicle parking stalls, 50 oversized truck stalls and 27 loading doors. The applicant, Panatoni Development Group, is seeking entitlements on behalf of the property owner, Amazon, for warehousing and distribution uses allowed in the Heavy Industrial zoning district.

Grace Holbrook, representing Carpenters Local Union 405, filed the appeal and told the council the CEQA addendum accompanying the project “does not include adequate drainage analysis” and that the proposed increase in impervious surface area could raise on-site flood risk. Holbrook said the record lacked a standalone drainage study and requested that any technical analyses supporting a ‘less-than-significant’ finding be included in the addendum and circulated for public review.

Applicant counsel Alex Merritt and the project civil engineer countered that the change in impervious area is modest compared with existing site conditions and that the addendum and engineering attachments demonstrate the proposed site improvements will reduce peak runoff. Elizabeth Klass, the applicant’s senior civil engineer, told the council the site lies in a FEMA shaded X zone (moderate risk), not a special flood hazard area, and highlighted planned on-site measures — including bio-retention planters and stormwater controls — that staff said will lower the peak flow from 54.2 cubic feet per second to 49.1 cfs under proposed conditions.

Senior planner Christina Fung and Public Works staff said more detailed hydrology and storm-drain designs are required as a condition of approval and will be reviewed during the building permit phase (condition of approval no. 40). That review must include hydrology and hydraulic calculations based on a 10-year storm to justify storm-drain sizing, staff said.

Councilmembers asked technical questions and noted a separate line of concern from labor groups about project labor agreements and local hire. Dozens of union representatives and labor supporters addressed the council during the hearing, urging approval with commitments to hire locally and use prevailing wages and apprenticeship programs.

After public testimony and closing remarks from the appellant and applicant, Vice Mayor Barbadillo moved to deny the appeal. The motion passed unanimously (Vice Mayor Barbadillo, Councilmembers Chua, Lam, Lien and Mayor Montano voting aye). The council’s action denies the appeal and affirms approval of the related entitlements — site development permit SD24-0006, environmental assessment EA24-0002 and tree removal permit 3R25-0021 — subject to the findings and attached conditions of approval.

Next steps: staff will process building-permit-level hydrology and storm-drain reports and enforce the conditions of approval during permit review and construction oversight.