Ordinance Could Halt Permits for Former Diamond Bar Honda Site

On Tuesday, the City Council will consider whether or not to adopt an interim urgency ordinance that will prohibit the issuance of permits for establishment of land uses on the former Diamond Bar Honda site at 525 Grand Avenue.

Requested by the Community Development Department, the recommended action is for the Council to adopt this ordinance. If it is approved, the moratorium will last 45 days.

The site has been vacant since the Diamond Bar Honda dealership relocated to the City of Industry in 2008. The property is currently zoned C-3, which allows a wide range of land uses, from retail to restaurants to hotels and offices.

According to Community Development Director Greg Gubman, there are a few reasons behind the ordinance.

“Initially, it’s a concern about the current zoning,” he said. “There’s a variety of uses that could take place on that site that would be at odds with the City Council’s goals and objectives, specifically a goal that states that the city needs to identify and implement development opportunities for the Honda site that will benefit the community to the greatest extent. The current zoning right now could potentially allow uses such as a self-storage facility; something like that with that type of freeway visibility and economic development potential would really take an important piece of commercial land out of our inventory.”

The property is right off of the 60 freeway at the Grand Avenue interchange, and Caltrans is working on constructing a direct westbound on-ramp adjacent to the premises. As it is designed now, almost three-quarters of an acre of the site will be used for this project, and at least one driveway approach will be eliminated.

“That’s going to potentially constrain the property quite a bit,” Gubman said. 

There’s also the question of the potential NFL stadium that could be built in the City of Industry portion of the premises.

“If that happens, then there is going to be an opportunity to add acreage to that side, but the stadium’s fate is still being determined,” Gubman said. “We really just need a little more time to come up with a new set of zoning standards to protect the city’s interest.”

Because of the land’s high visibility, the city wants to ensure that the right business comes in; for example, if the stadium is built, it is highly likely that a hotel developer would be interested in the parcel.

“We really want to make sure that we don’t forfeit that opportunity by allowing something to preclude that from happening,” Gubman said.

While the city has received a few inquiries about the site, according to Gubman nothing serious has come out of them, and this measure is mostly just preventative. 

The City Council will meet at 6:30 p.m. at the AQMD/Government Center Auditorium, 21865 Copley Drive, Diamond Bar.