The City of Corona Planning and Housing Commission on Tuesday recommended that the City Council approve a four-part entitlement for a proposed Northgate Gonzales Market at the northwest corner of West 6th Street and Main Street, forwarding a general plan amendment, a specific plan amendment, a parcel map and a precise plan with added conditions to address neighborhood impacts.

Senior planner Sandra Lopez told commissioners the project would consolidate 13 parcels into a 4.7-acre site to accommodate a 40,000-square-foot market and partial reuse of the existing 6,930-square-foot Citizens Bank building. "This project site consists of 11 vacant parcels, and there are 2 commercial structures still standing," Lopez said during the staff presentation and recommended adoption of the Mitigated Negative Declaration and associated mitigation measures.

Northgate representatives described the chain’s market model and community focus. "My name is Paul Mittman. I'm senior vice president of development for Northgate Markets," said Paul Mittman, who presented the company’s family history, community programming and store format. Michelle Gonzales, who identified herself as part of Northgate’s third generation, added that the company has been tailoring stores to local demographics and expects to employ local residents.

Commissioners and staff spent more than an hour on technical issues tied to the downtown infill location: whether the city or adjacent owners hold fee title to narrow alley parcels, the effect of vacating segments of 4th and 5th Streets, truck routing and the ability of large delivery vehicles to safely access the proposed loading docks. Development services staff and the applicant said title and easement reviews show the city commonly holds only public access easements in older downtown blocks and that vacating an easement would return fee to the underlying owner. Jennifer from Webb Associates, the civil engineer on the project, told the commission staff had reviewed title reports and that "the underlying fee ownership of that land" resides with the applicant for many of the parcels in the project area.

Concerns from residents and commissioners focused on truck maneuvers and adjacent parking. A nearby resident warned that vacating 5th Street would route deliveries through neighborhood streets and urged the commission to retain the public streets. Staff said delivery activity is expected to be modest — roughly four to five truck deliveries daily — but commissioners repeatedly asked for clarity on turn radii, queuing at the Main Street driveway and safety where the truck route intersects on-street parking and school traffic peaks.

In response the commission added conditions requiring: a no-idling rule for delivery trucks with enforcement language to be included in conditions of approval; immediate electrical plug-in capability at loading docks for refrigerated trailers so drivers will not idle; and documentation, to the satisfaction of city staff, that the applicant performed targeted outreach to residents on Bell Avenue (from 6th Street north to 3rd Street) about operations and mitigation measures.

Staff also noted environmental mitigations in the MND, including nesting-bird and burrowing-owl surveys prior to grading, tribal monitoring for archaeological work, and measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (solar, LEED materials and other screening measures).

The commission voted to recommend adoption of the Mitigated Negative Declaration and to forward the General Plan Amendment (GPA 2024-003), Specific Plan Amendment (SPA 2024-003), Parcel Map PM38981 and Precise Plan PP2024-0001 to the City Council with the conditions described above. The commission’s recommendation does not approve final entitlements — the City Council must take the final actions.

The council will next review the project and the environmental determination; if the council concurs, subsequent permit and construction phases would follow the city’s normal plan-check and utility-permitting process.