Compromise Ends Suit Over March Base

After reaching a settlement, community and environmental activists have agreed to drop their lawsuit to block part of the former March Air Reserve Base from being transformed into a mammoth business park.

Along with reducing warehouse space and curtailing truck diesel fumes, the base’s Joint Powers Authority agreed to build a regional park and other improvements.

“This really is a big victory for the community,” said Penny Newman, whose Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice filed the suit this year along with the Community Alliance for Riverside’s Economy and Environment. “While we didn’t get the ultimate goal, which was no warehouses, we certainly got major improvements, which make the facility 90% better than it was.”

For nearly a decade, planners have been working on converting part of the base into a 1,300-acre business park. The project is expected to create as many as 15,000 jobs, creating local options for residents who leave the county to work, and pump millions of dollars into the local economy, according to officials of the base authority.

“We think this is going to be a premier business park that others will want to follow,” said Phil Rizzo, head of the Joint Powers Authority. “The concessions were made for the constituents around the area.... We want to be a good neighbor to the community.”

Under the accord, reached Friday, the authority will limit warehouse space to 187 acres; keep the facilities away from homes and schools; create a 48- to 60-acre regional park with soccer, softball and football fields; set aside space for a police station and fire substation; restrict truck idling and traffic; and include an alternate fuel facility.

“The results of the settlement talks include a tremendous list of benefits that make the March business center a model for all of Southern California,” said Catherine Barrett-Fischer, executive committee chairwoman for the Community Alliance.