Planning Commission denies rezone in East Riverside Corridor

Against staff’s recommendation, the Planning Commission on April 25 denied an application to rezone 5201 E. Riverside Drive as outside of the East Riverside Corridor. According to Andrew Moore, who is a senior planner with the city’s Planning and Zoning Department, he was prompted by another Riverside resident to look at staff records to see whether the property had ever been intended to be part of the corridor, and what he found was that it had not. Nevertheless, Commissioner Patricia Seeger expressed concern that the owner of the property in question, a foster home facility called Casey Family Programs, had not been consulted in staff’s deliberation. “In a letter (to me) they indicated that if (this property) was pulled out of the (East Riverside Corridor) and they had to relocate it could cause issues,” she said. The motion passed unanimously, with commissioners Chito Vela and Nuria Zaragoza absent.