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This is a busy week for City Hall meetings. Committees for Land Use and Sustainability, Public Utilities, Safety and Wellness, the Cultural Heritage Board and Planning Commission all have meetings this week alongside Tuesday’s City Council Meeting. And that’s not even a comprehensive list.
Here are some highlights of what you can expect.
Land Use, Sustainability, and Resilience Committee
Monday’s meeting of the Land Use, Sustainability, and Resilience Committee at 3:30 p.m. is one residents concerned about the impact of warehousing in our region will want to take note of. Principal Planner for the City, Matthew Taylor, will provide an update on the City’s industrial development regulations including a matrix of potential policy actions for the committee to recommend to Council.
This includes a possible amendment to the Good Neighbor Guidelines limiting the size of warehouses in close proximity to homes and other “community centers” like schools, parks, and churches. Currently, new warehouse developments can get around existing guidelines by building separate warehouses at smaller sizes.
The Safety, Wellness, and Youth Committee meets Wednesday at 1:00 p.m. with several updates from Pamela Galera, the City’s Parks, Recreation and Community Services Director.
The Riverside Gateway Parks is a massive project envisioned to completely overhaul park sites along the Santa Ana River Trail in the city limits. The commission will provide feedback on the latest updates to the project with a total development cost of $258,500,000.
Since February 2022 the City has been working toward a reimagining of the tennis courts at Arlington Park, at the corner of Magnolia Ave. and Van Buren Ave., into nine new pickleball courts, including two courts with bleachers for tournament play. This city has $660,000 reserved for the $1,350,000 project and is seeking an additional $690,000 in funding.
Cultural Heritage Board
Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. the Cultural Heritage Board will consider granting a Certificate of Appropriateness request from the Mayor’s office for a new mural on the backside of the Loring Building on the corner of Main Street and Mission Inn Avenue. The proposed mural is a part of the Mayor’s Beautify Riverside initiative which has facilitated six new murals across the city funded through private donations.
Artists’ rendering of a mural proposed on the back side of he backside of the Loring Building.
The City Council meets Tuesday in both closed and open sessions. When the meeting opens at 1 p.m. Mayor Lock Dawson will recognize Jennifer O’Farrell of Big Brothers, Big Sisters of the Inland Empire for National Mentoring Month.
Only one item is up for discussion this week: the proposed conversion of a 1.44 acre residential lot on Indiana Avenue between Bernard and Vance Streets to office zoning for an office building with 139 parking spaces. This project is proposed by Steve Kienle of Kienle & Kienle Investments, owner of Walter’s Automotive Group. Agenda / Public Comment
Nonprofit groups say the ‘Nonprofit Resilience Fund’ will help address critical needs of residents. Critics argue ‘taxpayer money’ is better used for public work improvements.
