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Jurupa Valley Looks to Restrict New Businesses That Will Create More Truck Traffic

Trucks at Rest Stop in San Bernardino County.
Robert Couse-Baker
/
Flicker Creative Commons
Trucks at Rest Stop in San Bernardino County.

Earlier this month, the City of Jurupa Valley did its first round of approvals for an ordinance that would create restrictions on new businesses that would generate truck traffic.

The city calls it their “Truck Intensive Use Effort,” which is their attempt to better grasp the growing number of semi-tricks traveling through the city.

Joe Perez is the Community Development Director with the City of Jurupa Valley. “When we start talking about uses that generate a lot of truck traffic, you’re looking at the impact that those trucks have on traffic congestion, they really beat up our infrastructure, our streets, and it creates potential air quality issues for our residents,” said Perez.

Perez says the new ordinance has three components. The first is the restriction of businesses with heavy truck use being subjugated to only “heavy manufacturing zone,” which he says clarity’s the cities approach towards such new establishments.

Perez added, “Someone would need a conditional use permit to do that, and that’s before a public hearing for the planning commission, and it removes truck intensive uses from other different manufacturing zones.” The two other aspects are banning outdoor truck and trailer storage yards and prohibiting the development of any new truck stops.

Jurupa Valley Mayor Pro-Tem Chris Barajas says this will limit development to 14 specific lots in the city. Barajas says, “You don’t want a truck stop next to a house, you don’t want a truck depot next to a park, so that’s what it’s all about is to put things where they should work best to mitigate any types of negative impacts.”

Barajas also spoke about his relationship with the Jurupa Valley based Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice. The CCAEJ has been a leading opponent of any new warehouse development in the Inland Empire region.

Barajas says he has a strong relationship with the group and that it seemed most of the organization agreed with this move. He added, “I think they understood that we’re protecting any future growth and any current residents in areas that were probably zoned wrong from the beginning anyway.”

The Jurupa Valley Council is set to do a final approval of the new ordinance during their meeting this Thursday, with it expected to pass.

Jonathan Linden was a reporter at 91.9 KVCR in San Bernardino, California. He joined KVCR in July 2021 and served with the station till October 2022.