$50-Million Industrial Park Approved for Gravel Pit Site

After months of negotiations, the City Council has approved a developer’s plan to refill and convert a 130-acre abandoned gravel pit into a commercial and light industrial business complex.

The $50-million project will be the city’s largest development since the Miller brewing plant went up in the mid-1970s, said William Lockman, an engineering consultant to the city for 25 years. Lockman said he also believes it will be the largest reclamation of a rock quarry in Southern California.

The future business park, called Irwindale Industry Center, will take up most of the rectangular area between Arrow Highway, Irwindale Avenue, Cypress Street and Azusa Canyon Road. It will consist of two-story office buildings along Arrow Highway and Irwindale Avenue, and several warehouses on the rest of the site. Construction is expected to begin within 90 days, Lockman said.

The council approved the plan Thursday on a 2-0 vote. Mayor Sal Hernandez and Councilman Pat Miranda did not vote because they own property near the development. Councilman Robert Diaz abstained.

The developer, Calmat Properties Co., will fill the hole with dirt taken from a nearby pit. New intersections will be built on Arrow Highway and Irwindale Avenue to feed several new streets that will crisscross the area. In addition, Olive Street will be extended from its current end at Azusa Canyon Road.

The Industry Center was first proposed in August, 1990, by Calmat, which has owned the land since 1910. The company also owns several other pits in the city, including the “Raider Crater,” at one time considered for use as a new stadium for the Los Angeles Raiders football team.

The 1990 proposal died because the cost of filling the pit to its entire depth of 150 feet was too great and the city would not approve Calmat’s plan to leave a 30-foot depression, said Vice President Jerry H. Webber. The city insisted on a complete refill because council members feared the park would flood during heavy rains.

Last July, though, the city reopened negotiations with Calmat and a new proposal was hammered out. The company agreed to provide additional facilities to collect and drain water into the unused Baldwin Park pit to the southeast.

The street plan was also altered, eliminating through-streets to minimize use of the park as a shortcut.

Even with these precautions, though, several city residents attended an Oct. 10 City Council meeting to voice their concerns about the traffic, noise and dust that would go along with the construction.

There are three main residential developments surrounding the project. One area to the south is already shielded from the project by a large berm and hedges.

Residents on Hidalgo and Juarez streets at the northeast corner of the park want a similar hill, plus a six-foot wall separating them from the construction area. Calmat’s Webber has said he will comply with this request.

The third residential area, surrounding Martinez Street, would be most affected by the traffic created at the new intersection on Irwindale Avenue. Calmat has proposed several street-marking plans and is still negotiating that aspect of the project with the city, Webber said.

Lockman, the city’s engineer, said the streets and storm drains could be complete within a year. Commercial and industrial development after that would depend on the economy.