Meeting regarding proposed warehouse set for Thursday

                 Red line shows the boundaries of the proposed warehouse project.

By Doug Spoon, Editor

A community meeting has been scheduled for this Thursday, April 17 at Menifee City Hall to allow residents to give and receive input regarding a proposed warehouse project in northwest Menifee.

The 517,720-square-foot warehouse project is being proposed by Ares Management Company under the project LLC name IPT Menifee CC. It is planned for a site south of Ethanac Road and Floyd Avenue, between Murrieta Road and Geary Street. Just north of the project site is a neighborhood of homes on both sides of Floyd Avenue and farther north.

The site was originally targeted by Panattoni Development Company, which planned an even bigger warehouse project there. According to public testimony by several residents of the Floyd Avenue neighborhood, they all had contracts with Panattoni to buy them out and make room for the warehouses. But in 2022, Panattoni became involved in litigation with the City of Perris, whose southern border is Ethanac Road. Panattoni eventually backed out of the deal and cancelled the contracts with residents.

In 2023, Ares purchased part of the property with similar warehouse plans, but without offers to buy out the homeowners. Suddenly, they were faced with the prospect of staying in their homes next to a warehouse that would increase noise and traffic significantly. That led to two separate appearances by angry residents at city meetings regarding the new project.

The project in October 2024 came before the Planning Commission, when commissioners listened to residents’ concerns and voted 3-2 to deny it. Ares appealed, which resulted in a Dec. 4 City Council meeting on the subject. Again a group of residents expressed their opposition to the project. By a 3-2 ruling, council members voted to delay a decision, asking Ares representatives to make a better effort to reach out to residents and discuss a possible resolution.

Council member Dean Deines expressed frustration at that meeting when told that Ares had personally reached out to only two residents regarding their concerns.

“Talking to just two people is a little disappointing,” Deines said. “I’m concerned that there hasn’t been enough conversations with the residents. I believe we should continue this matter until after we have the traffic study, and to give them time to talk to all the residents.”

A traffic study regarding effects of industrial development along the Ethanac Corridor – a point of contention between the cities of Menifee and Perris – had not been reviewed by City of Menifee staff at the time. This Thursday’s meeting has been planned to consider any updates and let both sides state their case once again.

That meeting will begin at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall, located at 29844 Haun Road in Menifee. Although the meeting hasn’t even begun, it is already a source of controversy.

A spokesperson for Ares Management Company told Menifee 24/7 on Monday that its company “has engaged extensively with Menifee community members, Menifee’s California Environmental Quality Act consultant, and city staff on plans for the development of its proposed warehouse property.

“Since initiating the scoping process in late 2023, IPT has participated in multiple public discretionary hearings and community meetings. The city’s notice for these meetings, including the upcoming community meeting on April 17, has extended beyond the city’s standard property perimeter requirement to invite and expand community access to these discussions.”

That is in contrast to statements made Monday by Adrienne Vender, who lives on Floyd Avenue and has discussed her concerns regularly with relatives living on adjacent properties and other neighbors. She said only two personal visits have been made by an Ares official to any of the residents since the December meeting and no other correspondence has been received.

“One time, two men came into the neighborhood and talked to a resident who was out in the street,” said Vender. “They said, ‘We’ll have to go back to the drawing board’, and we never heard anything after that. Another time a man on site talked to my son and said they could build a taller wall and a roundabout for the traffic. That’s all we’ve heard.”

Vender also said only four of the residents have received letters notifying them of Thursday’s meeting. According to the Ares spokesperson, it is the responsibility of the City of Menifee to send out those letters. According to City spokesman Phil Southard, a notice for the meeting was sent to all property owners within 500 feet. The notice was also emailed to 19 residents who had signed a letter regarding the project.

The Ares spokesperson disputed Vender’s claims.

“Since the December meeting, IPT has held multiple discussions with additional neighboring residences and gone door-to-door to distribute letters seeking further discussion with community members,” she said. “To date, IPT has engaged directly with 15 of the 27 neighbors on Floyd, Geary, Kuffel, and Murrieta.

“IPT looks forward to continued collaboration with the City of Menifee, its consultants and staff, and importantly the neighboring homes.”