Howard Industrial wins OK for 213-acre industrial park in IE

A 213-acre industrial park with three large warehouses has won approval in the Inland Empire.

After years of debate, the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors approved the Bloomington Business Park with three warehouses to contain a total 2.1 million square feet, the San Bernardino Sun reported. The project requires the razing of more than 250 homes.

Howard Industrial Partners, based in Orange, will build three warehouses within an area bordered by Santa Ana, Jurupa, Maple, Linden and Alder avenues.

The project includes a 1.25 million-square-foot warehouse, a 479,000-square-foot warehouse and a 383,000-square-foot warehouse.

The development would be built in a rural community on 141 acres previously zoned for low-density and very low-density single-family homes.

The project, according to Howard Industrial, would result in $20 million worth of new infrastructure, including a sheriff’s deputy office in Bloomington. The unincorporated area is now served by deputies based in Fontana.

It was supported by union members and residents who said it would bring good-paying jobs, law enforcement and improved streets.

Work at the Bloomington Business Park will be “relatively intensive,” according to a staff report prepared for the board, running “seven days per week in two eight-hour shifts,” with an estimated 2,117 employees on site.

There will also be $10.7 million in one-time fees generated by the project, along with an estimated $1.8 million in annual fees, all of which will be used in Bloomington, according to the report.

“The residents of Bloomington need better streets, better schools, good-paying jobs and law and order,” said Bloomington resident Irma Hansel, wearing the lime green “Invest in Bloomington” T-shirt.

It was opposed by other residents and state representatives concerned about diesel pollution, traffic and displacement.

The 265 housing units lost to the business park are being replaced at a nearby 72-acre site, with 480 apartments or condominiums.

The project has been the subject of national headlines, as residents worry about losing Bloomington’s rural character and the air pollution and traffic generated by more warehouses in the Inland Empire.

“We thought that through community engagement we could stop this,” Ana Carlos of Concerned Neighbors of Bloomington told the board. “It’s an industrial project put in the middle of a neighborhood.”

Benefits from the Bloomington project pale in comparison to its numerous environmental, economic and social impacts, said Assembly Majority Leader Eloise Gomez Reyes, D-Colton, and state Sen. Connie Leyva, D-Chino, in a joint letter opposing the project.

“They should not have to sacrifice their air quality for the promise of jobs,” the letter stated.

— Dana Bartholomew

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