Voters in Banning to decide fate of major industrial development

Banning may join the list of Inland Empire cities that have a massive industrial park within its borders.

On Nov. 3, the city’s voters will decide whether to approve Sunset Crossroads, a project that will consist of 245 acres of warehouse-distribution facilities and other industrial buildings. It will be built on a 534-acre site south of Interstate 10, west of Sunset Avenue and north of Bobcat Road, according to a city staff report.

A Sam’s Club, a gas station and possibly a 125-room hotel are included in the project, which will be built by NorthPoint Development in Kansas City, Mo.

Most of the 4.7-million-square-foot project will be made up of warehouse-distribution projects.  One of those facilities will accommodate the planned Sam’s Club in Banning, and the Walmart already in Beaumont.

Sam’s Club officials have told the council that developing the project depends on both of those retailers getting their own warehouse.

“Time is money, and the developer wants to start building Sam’s Club right away,” Councilwoman Cindy Barrington said. “If the referendum doesn’t pass, Sam’s Club will probably go somewhere else.”

In March, Barrington was one of four council members who voted for three ordinances that gave a green light to the project. Councilwoman Sheri Flynn cast the dissenting vote.

But that approval was put on hold when a citizens group got a possible ban on the local ballot.

“Some individuals decided to collect signatures to get a referendum on the ballot,” Mayor Richard Royce said, “Once they did that we had two options: repeal our approval, or put it on the ballot and let the voters decide the matter.

“If it passes it will stop the project.”

The site, located partly in Banning and partly in unincorporated Riverside County, does not have an address. The unincorporated parcel makes up about 15 percent of the project site, which is now mostly undeveloped space.

Sunset Crossroads will bring an estimated $40 million in transportation and infrastructure development to Banning, as well as 3,500 jobs and about $44 million in revenue. That will come from its development agreement between the city and NorthPoint, Royce said.

NorthPoint has donated $3 million to Banning up front. The city was guaranteed the money regardless of whether the project is built, and it can spend it any way it wishes.

“That money is in the coffers,” Royce said.

Not yet in the coffers are four donations from NorthPoint to Banning that won’t happen until Sunset Crossroads is built:  NorthPoint has agreed to donate $750,000 to help with the revitalization of Banning’s downtown, another $500,000 for an animal shelter, and several million dollars to help build a fire station and purchase one firetruck.

“The developer won’t do that unless he gets his warehouses built,” Barrington said. “They have to make money before they can give us money.”

Large industrial projects are usually decided by the planning commission and city council, not by voters.

But at its July 14 meeting, the Banning City Council took the unusual step of placing the issue before voters, a response to the group of opponents who gathered the signatures.

On its website, the San Gorgonio Pass Alliance says it supports “smart growth,” but it opposes Sunset Crossroads because it would create more traffic, hurt air quality, put a strain on local roads, and keep the project site from being put to better use.

Most of all, the alliance believes the council approved the project without addressing those issues,  nor did it take into account the cost of putting the proposal on the ballot.

Opponents submitted 7,598 signatures to Riverside County election officials, who declared 7,126 of them to be valid. That was an “extraordinary” result, according to Chris Robles, a campaign consultant with the alliance.

“These results aren’t impressive, they’re overwhelming,” Robles said in a statement. “I have never seen valid numbers this high across three separate referendum petitions. Banning residents organized, fought back, and forced a choice: repeal (the approval), or let voters decide the issue.”

But some of the environmental concerns surrounding the project are exaggerated, Royce believes.

He points out that Beaumont, which is next to Banning, has a Home Depot and a Walmart and is scheduled to get a Costco.

“We already have plenty of congestion next door,” Royce said  “We also have a train that goes through Banning, and diesel trucks that go back and forth. Some people have said there will be 1,700 trucks an hour moving in and out of (Sunset Crossroads), but that would be impossible.”

Sunset Crossroads will provide too much of an economic boost for Banning to turn down.

“It’s the right project for Banning because of the sales tax revenue it will generate,” Barrington said. “The majority of the project is warehouses, but there are 50-plus acres of commercial retail, and that will generate a lot of sales tax.”

Barrington acknowledged that the project’s opponents did an impressive job getting the project before voters, that’s doesn’t mean the proposed ban will pass.

“It’s hard to get a feel for how the community feels about it,” Barrington said. “I know the senior community has been very vocal, but they’re not even one-third of the city’s population. There are 17,000 voters in the city, and that community is about 5,000 of that.”

Opposition to the project was to be expected.

”There was a lot pushback because it’s going to be warehouses in the middle of a residential neighborhood,” Barrington said, “That’s not ideal,  but there’s no other place to put it. We don’t have another 500-plus acres of open space.”