Council approves first reading to rezone parcels for proposed Cerro Coso campus

The Tehachapi City Council voted 3-0 to introduce and approve the first reading of an ordinance to amend the city's regulating plan and rezone assessor parcels 415130-42 and 415130-43 to accommodate a proposed Cerro Coso Community College campus at 737 W. Hashmi Boulevard.

Planning staff said the project involves about 6.8 acres and includes roughly 19,320 square feet of instructional space and a 4,000-square-foot maintenance and operations building, with associated landscaping, screening and infrastructure. The Kern Community College District prepared an Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration (IS/MND) and the Planning Commission reviewed the matter on Jan. 12 and recommended approval.

A representative from Cerro Coso told the council the campus is intended mainly for evening and part-time students and estimated the site would serve a few hundred students on a staggered schedule rather than the several-thousand-student footprint of a large regional college. "We have maybe a thousand unique students at the Ridgecrest campus, but they're never all here at once," the representative said, describing phased growth and the prospect of a multi-phase project.

Staff said the project includes street improvements, curb, gutter and sidewalks where gaps currently exist; the applicant will pay traffic mitigation fees to contribute to future signalization if traffic warrants it. Planning staff clarified the environmental review was conducted by the college district as lead agency and circulated for public review; staff said no substantive comments were received during that process and city staff concurred with the IS/MND filing.

Next steps: the ordinance was introduced by title only; adoption is anticipated at a subsequent council meeting once the public-notice and ordinance summary requirements are satisfied.