The Gateway at Menifee warehouse complex south of Scott Road includes five buildings — two of them vacant. (Staff photo)
Although a year-old Assembly Bill appears to be slowing developers’ applications to build warehouses in Riverside County, some cities have taken steps to stop such development altogether. The City of Menifee has not adopted a moratorium on such structures, as some nearby cities have.
AB 98, enacted in January 2025, “imposes minimum distance between logistics facilities and sensitive uses,” as Community Development Director Orlando Hernandez stated during a Menifee City Council discussion on the topic last May. Even so, the cities of Perris and Hemet have taken an even harder stance.
On Jan. 15, the Perris City Council voted unanimously to extend the previous 45-day moratorium on warehouses another 10 months. The proliferation of warehouses in the Inland Empire has been a topic in other cities as well. The Hemet City Council approved a 10-month moratorium in January 2025, And on Feb. 4, Moreno City Council members voted 3-2 to enact a 45-day moratorium. The item failed only because state law requires it to receive four yes votes to pass.
In Menifee, the warehouse issue hasn’t advanced past the “wait and see” stage. During a May 2025 discussion of the topic, some council members indicated they believed the best course of action was simply to accept the AB 98-imposed restrictions, with the belief that diversity would eventually come to the area. They seemed to be in agreement with Hernandez and City Manager Armando Villa, who suggested that some warehouse construction will still be needed so those developers could fund the infrastructure that is badly needed in the area south of Ethanac Road.
“That whole area has no infrastructure,” Villa said. “It’s over 600 acres. We wanted to capitalize on the market that was presented to us. That will free up more areas for other types of development. Unless we spend 60 or 70 million on infrastructure, we won’t be able to capitalize on these opportunities.
“We never intended to plaster this whole area with buildings. We’re just taking advantage of the current market.”
What that discussion didn’t include was the fact that nine applications for warehouses in the Northern Gateway Economic Development Corridor of Menifee bordering Ethanac Road were previously approved in concept and continue through the permitting process because they were filed prior to the enactment of AB 98 and thus permitted to build.
So while city officials continue to debate whether additional warehouses should be allowed, they are already locked in with nine projects that could come to fruition in the next few years.
Asked for comment this week, Acting Mayor Bob Karwin was reluctant to make any comparisons between Menifee and cities such as Perris and Hemet. He did not make any general statements about Menifee’s stance on warehouses, either.
“I don’t really know the economic details of why those cities are instituting moratoriums,” he said. “That would be an important factor to know before trying to compare our situation to theirs.”
In 2022, the Menifee City Council voted to prevent further building of warehouses in the Southern Gateway Economic Development Corridor. Because of that, the five warehouse buildings known as the Gateway at Menifee on Zeiders Road south of Scott Road will be the only warehouses in that EDC.
The area still allows business and technology offices, however, and officials have previously expressed interest in establishing an industrial/business park there. Last week, the City Council unanimously denied an appeal, thus approving the Menifee Pemcor Business Park for Zeiders Road. The project is described on Pemcor’s LinkedIn site as an “engineering procurement and electrical construction contractor for energy efficiency and renewable energy projects.”
The first warehouse facility built in Menifee was Commerce Pointe, which is now part of the Gateway at Menifee complex. (File photo)
According to Menifee Communications Director Phil Southard, two of the five warehouse buildings in the Gateway at Menifee project are vacant. He did acknowledge the continued developer interest in the Northern EDC, however.
“That area has been strategically planned for industrial uses with quick access to the I-215 and located away from major residential areas,” Southard said about the Northern Gateway EDC. “These types of uses provide local jobs, help support our local economy, and diversify the City’s tax revenues to help ensure the continued funding of essential services such as public safety and road maintenance.”
The nine previously approved Northern Gateway applications – which still must pass all permit checks and an Environmental Impact Report – are the following:
— Phelan (southeast corner of Barnett Road and Ethanac Road).
— Northern Gateway Logistics Center (south of the Phelan project, east of Evans Road, west of Barnett Road).
— Capstone (south of Ethanac Road, east of Wheat Street, west of Byers Road).
— Menifee Valley Specific Plan (south of Highway74, east of Menifee Road, west of Briggs Road, north of Matthews Road).
— Motte Business Center (south of Ethanac Road, east of Dawson Road, west of Antelope Road, north of McLaughlin Road).
— Core 5 Industrial (south of Ethanac Road, east of Trumble Road, west of Dawson Road, north of McLaughlin Road).
— Ethanac Business Park (south of Ethanac Road, east of Trumble Road, west of Sherman Road, north of McLaughlin Road).
— Mapes and Sherman Warehouse (southeast corner of Mapes Road and Sherman Road).
— United Carports (southwest corner of Mapes Road and Sherman Road).
It should be noted that it could be years before some of these projects start construction, if at all. When these projects come up for approval of their EIR or other matters, residents should remember that these projects were long ago approved in concept and are not new.
Southard provided further context to the issue.
“All warehouse projects in the City of Menifee must comply with our established ‘Good Neighbor’ Policy, which is designed to protect public health, safety, and welfare by regulating the design, location and operation of facilities,” he said. “Additionally, AB 98, signed into law by Governor Newsom in 2024, further restricts warehouse uses based on their proximity to sensitive receptors.
“Although we do have projects in process, Menifee remains far below the amount of square footage of other cities in the region for these types of uses.”
