Chino approves Preserve community center funding plan; Lewis loans could be forgiven if the council approves more homes

The Chino City Council on Oct. 20 approved a memorandum of understanding with the Lewis Companies laying out two ways to pay for the rest of the community center planned in The Preserve. Under either option, money Lewis lends could be canceled if Chino later approves more homes.

The vote was 4-0, with Mayor Eunice M. Ulloa absent. Council Member Marc Lucio made the motion, which Council Member Christopher Flores seconded, according to the meeting minutes.

The same motion approved a construction credit and reimbursement agreement with the companies. A staff report says that agreement lets Lewis begin building the center quickly, and the minutes note a groundbreaking scheduled for Nov. 14.

Two funding options

Under the amended Preserve development agreement from 2023, Lewis has 42,395 square feet of community buildings left to construct, the report says. It puts the increase in the center's construction budget at about $17.1 million.

Option 1 would have Lewis lend the city another $5.7 million at no interest. Option 2 would raise that loan to about $20 million, with a $23 million cap.

The city must tell Lewis which option it chooses before Oct. 20, 2028, the report says.

Forgiveness of the smaller loan hinges on council approval of 128 additional homes in Block 10 without rezoning. For the larger loan, forgiveness would require that approval plus a partial rezoning of roughly 54 acres in Block 2 to allow 243 more homes.

The report says the memorandum itself does not approve any new homes or zoning changes, which would go through separate hearings and environmental review. Its terms are to be written into a later change to the development agreement.

City Attorney Fred Galante told the council that repayment under both options is due within five years after construction is complete, not after it starts, and that the memorandum would be corrected, the minutes say.

East Chino homes

On a separate 4-0 vote, the council introduced Ordinance No. 2026-012, which amends the East Chino Specific Plan for a project of 55 single-family homes on 12.42 acres.

The change lets homes face a loop road, allows street parking on Amsterdam and Aguerre avenues, and allows 15-foot front setbacks on homes that have swing-in garages.

At a Sept. 15 hearing, residents raised traffic and parking concerns about 10 homes facing Amsterdam Avenue, and the council continued the item with the applicant's agreement, the report says. Since then, nine letters withdrawing earlier opposition have arrived.

The minutes count 34 emails in support.

Before voting, the council added a condition that PLC Communities, the applicant, work with city departments along Cypress Avenue's east side, up to Edison Avenue, either by building improvements or by helping pay for future trail design.

Dirac votes

At Mayor Pro Tem Curtis Burton's request, Galante reported that the council had previously considered two separate actions related to the Dirac battery storage facility, according to the minutes.

Galante said the first, approval of the complete project and the ordinance approving the development agreement, passed 4-1 with Burton voting no. The second was the ordinance's second reading, for the development agreement that provides community benefits and security protections, and Burton voted in favor of it.

Galante clarified that this vote supported the city's receipt of project benefits and did not change the prior vote opposing the facility, the minutes say.