Council may give 2nd look at the Oxbow site
Repeal of ordinance prohibiting crushing of unfinished materials eyed
San Bernardino leaders will soon decide whether to repeal a 2020 ordinance prohibiting the crushing of unfinished materials within 1,000 feet of property zoned for residential use.
Passed three years ago in response to public outcry over the massive pile of broken concrete atop Palm Avenue in the foothills of North Verdemont, the provision effectively required owners of the Oxbow site to remove the rubble stashed there, grind it somewhere else and haul it back to be used as landfill for a future housing development.
The unsightly heap has sat untouched for months as a result, but the City Council has sought solutions.
In April 2021, a majority of policymakers agreed to pull $2 million from reserves to remove the pile and recover the cost later.
Then-mayor John Valdivia nixed that plan shortly thereafter.
A year later, Valdivia again vetoed the will of a majority of the council when it voted to revisit the matter.
Such a move, Valdivia said in a March 2022 memo, was “fiscally irresponsible resulting in irreparable financial harm to the taxpayers of San Bernardino — a complete distraction to our city goals and workplan.”
With Valdivia replaced late last year by Mayor Helen Tran, councilmembers Theodore Sanchez, Sandra Ibarra, Juan Figueroa and Fred Shorett last week agreed to direct staff to return at a future meeting with an item that, if approved, would repeal the 2020 ordinance.
Councilmembers Ben Reynoso, who represents the Verdemont area, Kimberly Calvin and Damon Alexander opposed.
Ahead of the Thursday vote, Sanchez called the mountain of broken concrete “a major issue in the Verdemont neighborhood.”
In addition to the Oxbow project, plans to demolish Carousel Mall call for onsite crushing.
“It seems some of my colleagues are out of touch with best development practices outside of our city and our city’s poor development history,” Reynoso said in a text message Monday, “otherwise they wouldn’t jeopardize the health of our residents by attempting to repeal protections from grinding and crushing hazardous materials next to our homes.
Reynoso said: “I don’t understand the true intentions behind back-tracking needed development standards, allowing any and all kinds of developers to have their way.
“We owe our residents more.”
These past few months, San Bernardino planning commissioners have discussed a recommendation to amend the 2020 ordinance so crushing can oc
cur near residential properties so long as developers demonstrate through physical or operational means that the potential community impacts are reduced or eliminated, or that doing so is less invasive than other options for material processing.
Commissioners have raised concerns with the proposal at every turn, and last month declined to amend the law.
“I just don't see the great benefit for our city in crushing on site,” Commissioner Ronnie Lewis said at a Jan. 10 meeting. “There is no great benefit. There's none for the residents, none for the community. The more I look into this, the worse it gets for the prospect of grinding on site.
“We need to break this stuff up and get rid of it,” Lewis continued. “Take it to where they do grinding, to where it's processed. If it costs the builder a few more dollars to bring it back, so be it.”
It was unclear Monday when the City Council will take up the matter.