CITY OF BANNING
STAFF REPORT

Staff recommends the Planning Commission take the following actions: 

1. Find that Zone Text Amendment PZTA 26-0004 is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3); and

2. Adopt a Resolution entitled:

PC RESOLUTION NO. 2026-07

A RESOLUTION OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF BANNING, CALIFORNIA, RECOMMENDING CITY COUNCIL ADOPTION OF AN EXEMPTION PURSUANT TO CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT (CEQA) GUIDELINES SECTION 15061(B)(3) AND ADOPTION OF AN ORDINANCE APPROVING ZONE TEXT AMENDMENT PZTA 26-0004, AMENDING BANNING MUNICIPAL CODE SECTION 17.12.020, TABLE 17.12.020 RELATED TO STORAGE USES. 

City of Banning

Banning Municipal Code Section 17.12.020 contains Table 17.12.020, Permitted, Conditional and Prohibited Commercial and Industrial Uses. The table identifies whether uses within the City’s commercial and industrial zoning districts are permitted by right, conditionally permitted, or prohibited.

Table 17.12.020 currently contains several separate storage-related use classifications. Relevant to this amendment, the table lists “Construction storage (indoor and/or outdoor)” under the Services heading and lists both “Contractor’s storage yards” and “Storage yard” under the Manufacturing and Processing Uses heading.  Under the current table:

1. “Construction storage (indoor and/or outdoor)” is permitted in the Industrial (I) Zone, prohibited in the Airport Industrial (AI) Zone, and requires a Conditional Use Permit in the Business Park (BP) and Industrial Mineral Resource (IMR) zones.
2. “Contractor’s storage yards” are permitted in the Industrial (I) and Industrial Mineral Resource (IMR) zones and require a Conditional Use Permit in the Airport Industrial (AI) and Business Park (BP) zones.
3. “Storage yard” has the same existing permit designations as “Contractor’s storage yards”: permitted in the Industrial (I) and Industrial Mineral Resource (IMR) zones and conditionally permitted in the Airport Industrial (AI) and Business Park (BP) zones.

The Banning Municipal Code does not provide separate definitions within Table 17.12.020 distinguishing “Storage yard” from “Contractor’s storage yards.” Both uses are currently listed under the Manufacturing and Processing Uses heading and have identical permit designations in the I, AI, BP, and IMR zones.

The proposed amendment does not change the zoning designation of any property, does not approve a specific development project, and does not authorize construction. The proposed amendment is limited to changes to the “Construction storage (indoor and/or outdoor)” and “Contractor’s storage yards” classifications and deletion of the separate “Storage yard” classification. 

The amendment proposes to amend Banning Municipal Code Section 17.12.020, Table 17.12.020, as follows: 

1. Revise the “Construction storage (indoor and/or outdoor)” row under the Services heading to require a Conditional Use Permit in the Industrial (I) Zone. This use already requires a Conditional Use Permit in the BP and IMR zones;  
2. Revise the “Contractor’s storage yards” row under the Manufacturing and Processing Uses heading to require a Conditional Use Permit in the Industrial (I) and Industrial Mineral Resource (IMR) zones. This use already requires a Conditional Use Permit in the AI and BP zones; and  
3. Delete the separate “Storage yard” row under the Manufacturing and Processing Uses heading. Under the current Table 17.12.020, “Storage yard” and “Contractor’s storage yards” have identical permit designations. The amendment retains “Contractor’s storage yards” as the listed storage-yard use category. 

Other Storage- Related Uses

Table 17.12.020 contains other storage-related use classifications that are not proposed to be amended by PZTA26-0004. For example, “Storage, accessory, including self-storage” is separately listed under the Services heading and currently requires a Conditional Use Permit in the Industrial (I) and Business Park (BP) zones and is prohibited in the other commercial and industrial zoning districts identified in the table. This use classification would remain unchanged.  Other separately listed uses that may involve a storage component, including recreational vehicle storage, warehousing, trucking yards or terminals, commercial cargo/storage containers, and other specifically identified uses, would also retain their existing permit designations.  Accordingly, PZTA26-0004 does not establish a new permit requirement for every use involving storage. The amendment is limited to the three specific entries identified above. 

Proposed Table Revisions 

The proposed amendment would revise the following rows in Table 17.12.020: 

Services:

Manufacturing and Processing Uses:

The following row would be removed from Table 17.12.020:

For purposes of Table 17.12.020, “P” means permitted, “C” means conditionally permitted, and “X” means prohibited. All other use classifications and permit designations contained in Table 17.12.020 would remain unchanged. 

As outlined in Section 17.116.050 of the Banning Zoning Ordinance, approval of a Zone Text Amendment requires three (3) findings. The Planning Commission is being asked to consider the findings below and recommend that the City Council make the required findings in connection with adoption of the Council Ordinance for Zone Text Amendment PZTA 26-0004. 

A. The proposed Amendment is consistent with the goals and policies of the General Plan. 

Finding of Fact: The proposed Amendment is consistent with the General Plan because it maintains the City’s existing commercial and industrial zoning structure and revises only the permitting requirements for specific storage-related uses listed in Table 17.12.020. The Amendment does not change any General Plan land use designation, does not change any zoning district boundary, and does not approve any specific development project.  

B. The proposed Amendment is internally consistent with the Zoning Ordinance. 

Finding of Fact: The proposed Amendment is internally consistent with the Zoning Ordinance because it amends Table 17.12.020, which is the table used to identify permitted, conditional, and prohibited uses in the City’s commercial and industrial zoning districts. 

C. That the Planning Commission has independently reviewed and considered the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act. 

Finding of Fact: The Zone Text Amendment PZTA26-0004 is exempt from the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3). 

Staff believes requiring a CUP for these uses is logical and will give the Planning Commission (and the City Council upon appeals) the authority to apply special conditions to various projects that could have an impact on surrounding uses.  Further, it gives the Planning Commission the ability to better determine that a storage use is compatible with other uses in the same zone. 

The proposed Amendment would require a Conditional Use Permit for “Construction storage (indoor and/or outdoor)” in the Industrial Zone and for “Contractor’s storage yards” in each zoning district where that use is allowed.  The Conditional Use Permit process provides for discretionary review of an individual application and allows the Planning Commission to evaluate the proposed use based on the specific site and application and impose conditions of approval, as appropriate.  The proposed Amendment does not modify the existing permitting requirements for other storage-related uses separately identified in Table 17.12.020. 

Staff has reviewed the proposed code amendment as it relates to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines. Based on this analysis, staff recommends the Planning Commission determine that Zone Text Amendment PZTA26-0004 is exempt from the requirements of CEQA pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3). As stated in this CEQA section, the activity is covered by the common sense exemption that CEQA applies only to projects that have the potential for causing a significant effect on the environment. Where it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment, the activity is not subject to CEQA. The proposed Zone Text Amendment modifies the permitting requirements for specified storage-related uses within Table 17.12.020 and deletes one use classification. It does not approve any specific development project or authorize physical development. Therefore, staff recommends that the Planning Commission recommend the City Council determine that the proposed Zone Text Amendment is exempt from CEQA pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3).  The proposed Zone Text Amendment does not authorize any specific development or physical disturbance and is not subject to project-specific MSHCP review. 

On September 11, 2026, a public hearing notice was published in the Record Gazette, a newspaper of general circulation within the City of Banning, notifying the general public that Zone Text Amendment PZTA 26-0004 would be considered by the Planning Commission at a public hearing on October 7, 2026.  As of the time of writing this staff report, no public comments were received either in support of or in opposition to the proposed Zone Text Amendment.