Residents urge Ontario council to block 70-unit 5th Street project, citing traffic, safety and air-quality concerns

Residents packed public comment to oppose a proposed 70-unit housing development on 5th Street, telling the Ontario City Council they fear increased traffic, limited parking, taller buildings and harm to nearby schools and churches.

Peter Bloomfield, a 5th Street resident, said the council had previously rezoned the neighborhood to low density but that state law now limits the city’s options. “Sunrise Church right now is an operating church, a community center. Instead, we're gonna have 39-foot tall townhouses that are completely out of character with the rest of the community,” Bloomfield said, adding that El Camino Elementary School had not been notified and that neighbors worry about children’s safety during construction.

Steve Ho, introduced by the mayor as a neighborhood speaker, highlighted parking shortfalls shown in planning materials. “I brought [the planner] a family of four and looked at parking — they only got 18 spaces on the property,” he said, warning that nearby streets and school driveways would absorb overflow parking.

Resident Matt Ryan described privacy and construction impacts: “I have no privacy… I’m watching them build the prison wall,” he said, noting that the 39-foot buildings will loom over existing homes and increase street congestion and construction dust.

Gina Rodriguez and other speakers urged the city to require a traffic study and said residents and the school district were not adequately notified about the project. Mary Thompson, a longtime resident, cited air-quality worries and said her health is already affected by local pollution readings she checked. Richard Rodriguez said he feared developers would purchase additional church property and urged the council to protect community institutions.

A staff member and a council member explained the limits the city faces under state law. A council member noted that the state legislature passed SB 330, which residents and some elected officials said can allow developers to lock in higher density despite a local rezoning effort. A separate staff speaker summarized that a property owner had used state law provisions to seek higher density than the council’s recent rezoning had intended.

The speakers asked the council for clearer notice, traffic analysis and stronger local protections. Council members did not take formal action on the 5th Street project during the meeting; speakers were told the item was not on the agenda and that planning and legal constraints affect the city’s options.

The public comment period included other topics as well — most notably an employment-related grievance by a former city auditor — but the 5th Street development drew the largest group of commenters and the most extensive neighborhood testimony.