City sets sights on land study
Tuesday, June 21, 2005 12:55 PM PDT
JESSICA KELLER - ARGUS OBSERVER
ONTARIO - As matters now stand, the city of Ontario does not have enough commercial and industrial land available in its Urban Growth Area to promote or accommodate further growth for 20 years.
That may change, however, as city officials and a hired consultant are in the middle of completing a land availability study as part of a UGA expansion report that will be sent to the state.
Ontario City Manager Scott Trainor said the report the city's hired consultant will submit for state consideration and approval will include an inventory of the amount of land available, viable land for development and what the city needs to grow. The inventory will be based on a 20-year period along with economic development factors and projections.
According to raw information from the consultant, Ontario has 5,030 acres of land remaining in its Urban Growth Area, and of that, 300 acres is vacant land zoned industrial and 75 is vacant and zoned commercial.
Of that acreage, 144 acres zoned industrial and 59 acres zoned commercial were deemed vacant, but not necessarily developable, Trainor said.
In some cases, a parcel of land is vacant but is owned and being used by businesses adjacent to the property in question, usually using it for storage or planned expansion, Trainor said. In other cases the land is situated in the 100-year floodplain or has been deemed wetland, although Ontario does not have too many wetlands.
While it is not impossible to develop in a floodplain, insurance costs for building there are considerable and banks often will not lend for such endeavors, making it difficult for newer commercial businesses and industries without the financial capabilities to build, Trainor said.
Trainor said the amount of vacant and developable land was broken down to subtract the acreage of parcels one-acre in size or less - too small to attract sizable industries.
The total amount of vacant, developable and sufficiently-sized land stands at 133 acres industrial and 59 commercial. That, he said, is too small of an amount of acreage for Ontario for future growth. Of the 133 acres, only one parcel is about 100 acres - a desirable amount for attracting industries. Trainor said the city wants to avoid one person owning the majority of land acreage.
In that situation, "That guy sets the market, and that's not good," Trainor said.
Ideally, the city needs multiple 100 acre lots, multiple 50 acre lots and even more 20 acre and smaller-sized lots to make the area attractive for industries and business and accommodate growth, Trainor said, which is what the city will present to the state in its UGA expansion request.
Trainor, however, said he does not know how much acreage the city is going to ask for. Officials and the consultant are currently working on setting the total amount of acreage required by the city for the report.
Trainor estimated the final report will not be completed until the end of July.
Currently the city's consultant is reviewing the economic development history and economic information for the region and what future industries are likely to settle in this area. From that information, Trainor said, the consultant will determine how much extra acreage is necessary.
He said the city intends to ask the state for "certifiable" parcels - parcels that are ready for building, once the infrastructure is in place, and do not have any drawbacks to the property such as location in the floodplain. Hopefully, that land will include a couple 100 acre parcels to attract bigger industry that would benefit the area, and eventually the city.
"So we're kind of trying to get the home run and at the same time some of the teeny, little bunts," Trainor said.
No Dhimmi wrote on Aug 14, 2009 9:38 PM:
And this isn't "racist," because Islam is not a race, anymore than Communism or Nazism are races, both of which killed far fewer people than Islam.
Disgusting. "