A Highland warehouse project with loading docks facing a Head Start preschool entrance just 25 feet away won a three-year permit extension from city commissioners in July, over objections from more than 50 residents and school district officials who say the developments threaten children’s health and safety. A second warehouse proposed across the street from Indian Springs High School received the same extension. Both now head to an October 13 Highland City Council appeal hearing that will test whether local leaders will impose stricter protections than state law currently requires.
The Highland Planning Commission voted unanimously on July 21 to grant the three-year extensions for Conditional Use Permits 23-003 and 22-011, both sought by developer Patriot Partners, despite testimony from more than 20 public speakers opposing the move, according to IE Community News. As reported by the San Bernardino Sun, the first warehouse is proposed for 2.86 acres on Fifth Street near Central Avenue and would total 53,665 square feet with five loading docks, while the second is planned for 2.83 acres on Sixth Street just west of Del Rosa Drive, spanning 47,889 square feet with six loading docks. The two sites sit roughly two miles apart.
The Fifth Street warehouse borders Highland Head Start Preschool to the west, and its loading docks face the preschool directly — with the facility’s entrance sitting about 25 feet from the warehouse, per the Sun’s reporting. Warehouse trucks would use a Fifth Street driveway located near multi-family housing and very close to the Head Start site. The second warehouse, meanwhile, is next door to multi-family housing and would send trucks down Sixth Street to reach the facility, with truck traffic described as posing safety hazards to students, families, pedestrians and bicyclists…