The Baldwin Park City Council on Wednesday rejected a 20-building, 104-unit townhome development proposed for a vacant school district parcel, upholding the Planning Commission’s earlier denial of the project.
The decision followed public comments in which residents argued the 5-acre site at 1314 LeBorgne Ave. is one of the few remaining open spaces in a neighborhood already burdened by freeways, quarries and industrial pollution.
“We are green space-poor,” Mayor Pro Tem Jean Ayala said, echoing a concern raised repeatedly by opponents of the proposed development.
The project, proposed by Storm Properties on land owned by the Bassett Unified School District, would have required a General Plan Amendment to change the land use from open space to residential, along with a zone change, design review and an administrative adjustment to allow for a minor deviation from building-length requirements. Storm Properties had reduced the buildings from three stories to two and offered five affordable units, but council members questioned whether those concessions addressed the core problem of density on narrow surrounding streets.
Councilwoman Alejandra Avila said the area is not zoned for that type of density and that the zoning should remain as is to better fit the community. She also pressed the project applicant on where outreach cards were collected, noting that residents of Berrydale and Millbury — the streets most directly affected — were not among those surveyed.
“We did not knock on Barrydale and Millbury doors because we had a neighborhood meeting,” Storm Properties President Jay Ahluwalia responded. “Those residents, we met personally with during the two neighborhood meetings.”
Mayor Daniel Damian raised a separate concern about environmental review. He noted that a May 12 letter from the California Department of Toxic Substances Control recommended consideration of soil testing, but that no physical sampling had been conducted.
Ahluwalia acknowledged no testing had occurred and said he was willing to conduct it at his own expense.
Supporters, including the Bassett Unified School District Superintendent Anthony Ortiz, argued the project would generate ongoing lease revenue from vacant land to offset declining enrollment.
“This revenue would support our schools even if student enrollment continues on its current trajectory,” Ortiz said. “The project’s family size units will help attract and retain households with school aged children.”
But opponents countered that the district’s financial needs did not justify developing one of the area’s only open spaces, and the council agreed with a 5-0 vote to reject the project.
The AI platform Civilio assisted this report.