Calimesa council approves annexation package, moves to legalize two large warehouses

The Calimesa City Council on July 20 approved a multi-part annexation package that would bring roughly 314.4 acres into the city and create a new warehouse-overlay zone to legalize two existing large warehouse buildings.

City staff said the annexation is landowner-initiated by I‑10 Logistics (Shopoff Realty Investments). The northern annexation area is about 234 acres and the southern area about 79.4 acres; staff said existing development will remain unchanged and no new development is proposed as part of the annexation action itself. Community Development staff described the bundle as a jurisdictional boundary adjustment that includes a general-plan amendment, pre-zoning, a new warehouse overlay zone, two conditional-use permits limited to the existing buildings, and a negative declaration under CEQA (EA‑25‑8).

The proposed warehouse-overlay zone would conditionally permit warehouse buildings up to 1,100,000 square feet so the two existing buildings would be fully conforming to the city zoning code rather than remaining legal nonconforming uses. City Manager Will summarized fiscal impacts, saying the annexation adds about $527 million in taxable value and would allocate an estimated $1 million in property-tax revenue to the city from the annexed area; staff estimated a net ongoing revenue increase of about $583,000 in year 1 and higher amounts thereafter as the annexation agreement payments phase in.

As part of deal points presented to the council, I‑10 Logistics offered a year‑1 community contribution of $450,000 (to offset ladder-truck acquisition costs), annual contributions starting in year 2 of $115,000 to public services and $10,000 to Calimesa nonprofit organizations, and a not-to-exceed cap of $12.5 million over the life of the agreement.

Water districts and some property owners urged caution. Mark Swanson of Beaumont Cherry Valley Water District told the council the southern parcels fall inside the district’s sphere of influence and asked the city to clarify which agency will provide potable and nonpotable service to the southern parcels. Dan Jaggers, general manager of Beaumont Cherry Valley Water District, and Joe Zobah, general manager of Yucaipa Valley Water District, said their agencies’ planning, bundling policies and capital investments in wells and pipelines mean service-boundary changes deserve careful review before final approval. Jaggers warned of potential impacts to planned facilities if municipal boundaries change.

Community members representing two smaller properties on East 2nd Street and adjacent parcels said they had not been engaged earlier and asked for continued discussion about future zoning and protections for existing property rights. Chris Taylor, manager for one of the East 2nd Street properties, said his owners had filed an application with an adjacent city in the past and asked staff to pursue early outreach with owners in future cases.

Council members said LAFCO (the Local Agency Formation Commission) will ultimately decide utility and service boundaries and that the city’s actions do not immediately change taxes for property owners; the council also heard that annexation does not itself alter existing special-assessment district obligations. Several council members voiced support for moving the package forward while recognizing that water districts and LAFCO will have roles in resolving service and boundary issues.

Council adopted a set of resolutions and introduced Ordinance No. 4‑23 (establishing the warehouse overlay and pre-zoning the annexation area) by a 5–0 roll-call vote. Staff said the annexation agreement will return to the council for final approval and the ordinance will proceed to a second reading and subsequent adoption steps as required.

The city manager and planning staff said the council’s action is decades in the making and that final annexation will be subject to LAFCO review and the forthcoming annexation agreement.