Industrial buildings approved for northeast Menifee

The Menifee Commerce Center project site is bordered by trash, rocks and overgrown brush. (Staff photo)

By Doug Spoon, Editor

The Menifee Planning Commission has recommended approval to the City Council of a major industrial and office complex in the northeast part of the city.

Menifee Commerce Center would consist of two buildings covering 1.25 million square feet and 385,000 square feet. The complex would be located on what is now vacant land bordered by Ethanac Road to the north, Trumble Road to the west, and Dawson Road to the east. To the south is a portion of undeveloped McLaughlin Road, along with a county flood control channel and an SCE easement.

The complex would be part of what city officials have designated as Menifee’s northern economic corridor in what is sparsely developed and populated land. The project would not be affected by the City of Menifee’s lawsuit against Perris in an attempt to retain warehousing rights along Ethanac Road, because only the stretch of Ethanac west of the freeway is shared by the two cities.

Wednesday’s unanimous approval by the Planning Commission includes minor changes in zoning to make guidelines consistent for the entire site. Architectural plans for the buildings feature a more attractive look than traditional warehouse units, with extensive landscaping and a screen wall on the perimeter.

According to city officials, the project will be located more than 275 feet from the nearest home. The land currently is undeveloped and is strewn with trash dumped there.

“It’s important to me that we’re not changing the zone or use in the area,” said Commissioner Ben Diederich. “The area has been designated for this [by the county] since at least ’93. It’s been on the books for a long time.

“This is a beautiful project. It’s not just a bunch of concrete walls. [The area] is a dumping ground right now; it’s not like we’re taking away horse riding paths or parks.”

No one spoke against the project at Wednesday’s meeting, with several construction union representatives speaking in support of it.

The only point of concern included two negative factors in the Environmental Impact Report that cannot be mitigated – negative impacts on air quality and greenhouse gases. According to the EIR document, those impacts are unavoidable in a project of this size and will be outweighed by benefits to the community, including roadway improvements.

McLaughlin Road will be extended as an improved roadway to the south, and Ethanac Road will be widened to two lanes each way on the north.

“Ethanac Road will provide very close access to a freeway interchange,” said Brett Hamilton, senior planner for the City, who made the presentation. “It’s the least amount of disruption possible to residents of the area.”

The applicant for the project stated that tenants for the buildings have not been identified, but tenants for a building as big as the larger one typically include businesses such as Shopify, Target, Home Depot, Burlington, Disney and Best Buy. The smaller building will likely house businesses such as local plumbing companies.

Union representatives applauded the possibility of local residents making up the majority of the thousands of jobs the project will create.

Architectural drawings show the planned exterior look of the Menifee Commerce Center project.