Article XII — WAREHOUSES AND LOGISTICS DISTRIBUTION CENTERS

Warehouse/distribution facilities primarily used for the storage and/or consolidation of manufactured goods before their distribution to retail locations or other warehouses. Warehouse/distribution centers are fifty thousand (50,000) square-feet or more in gross floor area or contain six (6) or more truck docks or dock high loading doors. They are characterized by dock high loading doors and could be on opposing sides of the building (cross dock facility); may include grade-level loading doors; interior clear heights a minimum of 28 to 36 feet to ceiling for the warehousing floor area; significant movement and storage of products, materials, or equipment; may include receiving, sorting, repackaging, and/or re-distribution; truck activities frequently outside of the peak hour of the adjacent street system; and need freeway access. WAREHOUSE: This definition excludes facilities owned and operated by a government agency or any public or private utilities. Warehousing and distribution facilities include, but are not limited to, the following types of uses: A. Warehousing distribution/high cube distribution centers. B. Parcel delivery terminals or truck terminals. C. Parcel sorting and distribution facilities. D. Package allocation for delivery drivers or independent delivery contractors. E. Parcel hub or high cube fulfillment center. F. Freight yards or forwarding terminals. G. Moving agencies. H. Shipping/receiving yards. The use of a portion of a building for the related storage of goods of any type by one or two businesses and used for the sale or distribution of those goods directly to their customers. A manufacturing, assembly, service commercial, or other type of commercial or industrial use (i.e., primary use) manufactures and/or stores and distributes the goods or components that are produced or contained on-site, and therefore WAREHOUSING, includes the related storage of those goods or items. Ancillary storage ANCILLARY: or warehousing is subordinate and incidental to the primary land use (e.g., manufacturing, assembly, service commercial, or other type of primary commercial or industrial use). Ancillary storage or warehousing may include ground level loading doors on one or more sides of the building, or not more than five (5) dock high loading doors on one side of the building only. (Ord. 2955, 2023)

The provisions of this section shall apply to the following types of development projects:

A. New warehouse development projects that meet one of the following criteria (note: excludes government agency facilities and public or private utility facilities).

1. Gross floor area of fifty thousand (50,000) square-feet or more; or,

2. A structure with six (6) or more truck docks or dock high loading doors (does not include grade-level loading doors or loading spaces).

B. Development or redevelopment projects for existing or proposed warehouse facilities involving demolition, reconstruction, repairing, or rebuilding that exceed fifty percent (50%) of the reasonable replacement value of the existing structure or property.

1. Estimates for this purpose shall be reviewed and approved by the building official and the Development Services Director, or their respective designees, and shall be based on the minimum cost of construction in compliance with the California Building Code.

2. For the purpose of this section, "assessed value" shall mean the assessed value of the structure as shown on the County of San Bernardino property assessment roll in effect at the time of the occurrence of the casualty, or at the time the repair and maintenance is first conducted.

3. Redevelopment of a property and/or building shall include the feasible provisions of Section 18.156.930 through 18.156.960 of this Article, as determined by the Planning Commission.

C. Required Compliance. No new warehouse development project shall be constructed, no redevelopment or reconstruction of a property for warehouse use, and no existing warehouse shall be moved, altered, or enlarged, except in accordance with the applicable development standards of this Article. (Ord. 2955, 2023)

No warehouses shall be located on a project site more than one mile (5,280 feet) from a freeway entrance/exit ramp to the Interstate Freeway System (Interstate 10 and Interstate 210). For purposes of this requirement, the linear distance shall be measured as a radius from a freeway ramp to any part of the subject property. (Ord. 2955, 2023)

A. Warehouse developments shall provide a solid decorative wall(s) of at least ten feet (10') in height when abutting any sensitive receptors.

Sensitive receptors for purposes of this section shall be defined as any residence including private homes, condominiums, apartments, and living quarters, schools, preschools, daycare centers, in-home daycares, hospitals, long-term care facilities, retirement and nursing homes, community centers, places of worship, parks (excluding trails), and dormitories. The exterior treatment of the wall(s) shall be decorative or painted.

B. Unless physically impossible, loading docks and truck entries shall be oriented away from abutting sensitive receptors. To the greatest extent feasible, loading docks, truck entries, and truck drive aisles shall be located away from nearby sensitive receptors. In making feasibility decisions, the City must comply with existing laws and regulations and balance public safety and the site development's potential impacts to nearby sensitive receptors. Therefore, loading docks, truck entries, and drive aisles may be located nearby sensitive receptors at the discretion of the Planning Commission, but any such site design shall include measures designed to minimize overall impacts to nearby sensitive receptors.

C. Trees shall be used as part of the solid screen buffering treatment for any adjacent residential properties or properties with sensitive receptors. Trees used for this purpose shall be evergreen, drought-tolerant, minimum 36-inch box size, and shall be spaced no greater than forty (40)-feet on center. Palm trees shall not be used for screening purposes. The property owner and any successors in interest shall maintain these trees for the duration of ownership ensuring any unhealthy or dead trees are replaced timely as needed.

D. Trees shall be installed in automobile (passenger vehicle) parking areas to provide at least thirty five percent (35%) shade cover of parking areas within fifteen (15) years. This requirement is in addition to the applicable standard design requirements for parking lot landscape and related improvements. Trees shall be planted that are capable of implementing this requirement. (Ord. 2955, 2023)

A. Applicants for entitlements shall prepare and submit a Truck Routing Plan demonstrating the most direct route(s) to and from the Interstate Freeway System based on the city's latest Truck Route Map. Routes to or from freeway ramps shall not pass through any residential zones or districts.

B. A traffic impact assessment (TIA) report shall be prepared to evaluate a proposed warehouse project's compliance with the City's Measure U traffic system requirements, and shall include an evaluation of the City's streets and Truck Routes that provide vehicular access to the Interstate Freeway System, including, but not limited to: existing right-of-way width; roadway capacity to handle the proposed quantity of truck trips to be generated by the proposed use (including any road widening that may be necessary); roadway design and improvements to handle the weight and frequency of proposed truck trips; intersection operations to freeway ramps and level of service analysis to include the proposed truck trips; truck turn radii at intersections; and other operational elements of the City's street network to serve the proposed use. The TIA may be prepared by a qualified consultant selected and directed by the City (and all consultant costs to be reimbursed by the applicant), or by a qualified traffic consultant selected by the applicant (and all work subject to the direction, review, and approval by the City).

C. Entry gates into the loading dock/truck court area with more than twenty (20) loading docks shall be positioned after a minimum of one hundred forty (140) feet of total available stacking depth inside the property line (or alternatively, if one hundred forty (140) feet of depth is not feasible due to site constraints, then provide seventy (70) feet of available stacking depth for two trucks side-by-side as an alternative design). The stacking distance shall be increased by seventy (70) feet for every twenty (20) loading docks beyond 50 docks. Queuing, or circling of vehicles, on public streets immediately pre- or post-entry to an industrial commerce facility is strictly prohibited unless queuing occurs in a deceleration lane or right turn lane exclusively serving the facility.

D. Prior to entitlement approval, applicants shall submit to the City, and obtain approval of, all turning templates to verify adequate truck turning movements at entrance and exit driveways as well as street intersections adjacent to industrial buildings. Unless not physically possible, truck entries shall be located on Collector streets or streets of a higher commercial classification, and vehicle entries shall be designed to prevent truck access on streets that are not Collector Streets (or streets of a higher commercial classification), including but not limited to by limiting the width of vehicle entries.

E. Anti-idling signs indicating a five (5) minute restriction on engine idling for diesel trucks shall be posted at warehouses and industrial commerce facilities along entrances to the site and within the dock areas and shall be strictly enforced by the facility operator (13 CCR § 2480).

F. Signs shall be installed at all truck exit driveways directing truck drivers to the truck route as indicated in the Truck Routing Plan to be routed to the Interstate Freeway System.

G. Signs and drive aisle pavement markings shall clearly identify the onsite circulation pattern to minimize unnecessary on-site vehicular travel.

H. Facility operators shall post signs in prominent locations inside and outside of the building indicating that off-site parking for any Medium Heavy-Duty trucks, Heavy Heavy-Duty trucks, truck trailers or cabs, and other operations-related vehicles is strictly prohibited. City may require facility operator to post signs on adjacent and nearby surface or residential streets indicating that off-site truck parking is prohibited by City ordinance.

I. All signs under this Section shall be legible, durable, and weather-proof. (Ord. 2955, 2023)

A. A minimum of ninety percent (90%) of the on-site motorized operational equipment shall be zero emission (ZE).

B. All warehouse building roofs shall install photovoltaic (PV) solar collector system or other form of on-site renewable energy, provided such renewable energy source is recognized by the State of California as a renewable resource under the Renewable Portfolio Standard Program. The renewable energy system shall be metered separately from the nonrenewable metered power usage of the building (if not in conflict with other applicable regulations). The renewable energy system shall be built to generate an amount of electricity sufficient to meet the following criteria:

1. Annualized building demand based on the approved use or, if no use is proposed, then the demand for the most energy intensive use that could occupy the building; and

2. Annualized demand required to charge fully electric vehicles and trucks, assuming that all vehicles and trucks to the site are fully electric; and

3. A reasonable rate of efficiency loss over ten (10) years.

Note: Electricity demand that exceeds the generation capacity of the on-site renewable energy system may be obtained from off-site energy sources or suppliers.

C. The warehouse building's rooftop that is not covered with solar panels or other utilities shall be constructed with light colored roofing material with a solar reflective index (SRI) in accordance with current California Energy Code regulations. This material shall be the minimum solar reflective rating of the roof material for the life of the building.

D. The on-site passenger vehicle parking shall include electric vehicle (EV) ready parking spaces in accordance with current requirements of the California Building Code, and at least fifty percent (50%) of the required EV parking spaces shall be equipped with working Level 2 Quick Charge EV charging stations installed and operational, prior to building occupancy. Signage shall be installed indicating EV charging stations and specifying that spaces are reserved for clean air/EV vehicles. Unless superior technology is developed that would replace the EV charging units, facility operator and any successors in interest shall be responsible for maintaining the EV charging stations in working order for the life of the facility.

E. Unless the owner of the facility records a covenant on the title of the underlying property ensuring that the property cannot be used to provide chilled, cooled, or freezer warehouse space, a conduit shall be installed during construction of the building shell from the electrical room to all (100%) of the loading dock doors that have potential to serve the refrigerated space. When tenant improvement building permits are issued for any refrigerated warehouse space, electric plug-in units shall be installed at every dock door servicing the refrigerated space to allow transport refrigeration units (TRUs) to plug in. Truck operators with TRUs shall be required to utilize electric plug-in units when at loading docks. (Ord. 2955, 2023)

A. Cool surface treatments shall be added to all drive aisles and parking areas, or such areas shall be constructed with a solar-reflective cool pavement such as concrete. Solar collectors may be installed on support structures that provide shade over parking areas to achieve minimum requirements.

B. To ensure that warehouse electrical rooms are sufficiently sized to accommodate the potential need for additional electrical panels, either a secondary electrical room shall be provided in the building, or the primary electrical room shall be sized twenty-five percent (25%) larger than is required to satisfy the service requirements of the building or the electrical gear shall be installed with the initial construction with twenty-five percent (25%) excess demand capacity.

C. All exterior light fixtures (including but not limited to parking lot lighting, wall fixtures, roof fixtures, light poles, etc.) visible from public right-of-way or abutting properties shall have shielding affixed to contain illumination within the subject property and prevent light trespass and glare overspill.

D. The facility operator shall be required to perform regular maintenance of building structures, landscaping, and paved surfaces to ensure good physical condition and appearance.

E. For any sites with warehouses that are abutting or adjacent to any residential properties or properties containing sensitive receptors, any outdoor storage of materials, high-pile storage, or any other manner of storage or staging shall not exceed the height of the perimeter wall.

F. Additional operating conditions may be enacted for an individual Warehouse project pursuant to a Conditional Use Permit (RMC Chapter 18.192) for the purpose of avoiding or reducing potential off-site nuisance effects of the warehouse facility (including but not limited to traffic, parking, noise, vibration, air quality emissions, etc.) on nearby sensitive receptors or residential districts, or to protect the public health, safety, or general welfare. (Ord. 2955, 2023)