Since its incorporation in 1960, the unprecedented growth of San Dimas has transformed the City from an essentially rural area to a well-balanced community offering industrial, commercial, and residential living. In addition to the 1,700 acre Frank G. Bonelli Recreational Area which lies within the City boundaries, there are many parks such as San Dimas Canyon Park, a city-owned golf course (San Dimas Canyon Golf Club), and over 27 miles of equestrian trails for riding. The city services include an extensive recreational program for youth and for senior citizens, and the City boasts a new modern City Hall, with excellent provisions made for County Sheriff and Fire Departments, along with a fine Los Angeles County Library and Engineering Regional Office.
Twitter link
Facebook link
Instagram link
Downtown Specific Plan
Project Overview
The City of San Dimas has completed its first Downtown Specific Plan. The new Specific Plan establishes a planning and zoning framework for encouraging innovative, transit-oriented development in the greater downtown area while preserving the character of the historic commercial district. During the planning process, new housing, retail, employment, and hospitality uses in the downtown area was proposed to complement a new Metro Gold Line passenger light rail and transit station opening in 2025. Several opportunity sites within walking distance of the transit station will allow significant potential for infill development and adaptive reuse of existing underutilized properties in the downtown. 
One of the key outcomes is the creation of design guidelines for both private development and the public realm. These guidelines will encourage future development to meet the community’s standards and expectations and to create a strong sense of community identity and place.
Purpose of the Downtown Specific Plan:
The Downtown Specific Plan offers:
- A community-supported vision and guiding principles that encourages a vibrant and pedestrian-friendly downtown.
- Goals and policies to guide decision-makers in achieving the community’s vision for the downtown area.
- Actions to be taken by the City to develop projects and partnerships that implement the goals and policies.
- Phased catalytic projects to spur new economic investment and residential and commercial development in downtown.
- New objective design and development standards to provide clear guidance for property owners, developers, and City staff.
- Streetscape improvements to activate the public realm, providing an inviting and engaging pedestrian-friendly environment.
- Fulfillment of the goals, policies, and actions of San Dimas’ General Plan by promoting orderly growth, and efficiently utilizing existing infrastructure and services.
Components of the Specific Plan:
The Specific Plan will address development projections for residential and non-residential land use that reflect the market analysis; land use designation, distribution, and intensity of development.
The Specific Plan will address roadway hierarchy and cross sections, potential improvements to transit routes, facilities, and accessibility; and alternative and active transportation networks, linkages, and accessibility. The Specific Plan will also cover parking and related issues as appropriate.
The Specific Plan will identify necessary infrastructure and utilities, improvements and relocations, as needed to support the City, including storm drain, wastewater, water, energy, and telecommunications systems.
Community Involvement
A key component of the process is public participation. As part of the outreach efforts, Staff will seek public input from residents, business and property owners, and stakeholders. Community workshops will be held throughout the process to allow, an interactive website to collect comments and input has been created, and a Community Advisory Committee (CAC) and a Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) will be formed.
Community Workshops
A total of five public community workshop meetings will be held at various stages of the planning process. The main goal of these workshops will be to solicit valuable community input on the process, with the overall intent of informing the public about the project, achieve a general consensus and vision for the study area, and allow for valuable feedback and evaluation of concepts and recommendations. Community members can get involved in the creation of the Specific Plan by providing local insights, feedback, and comments during the following Community Workshops:
- Workshop #1 - Issues, Opportunities, and Assets – February 23, 2022
- Workshop #2 - Envisioning Downtown San Dimas – May 11, 2022
- Workshop #3 - Land Use Plan and Mobility Concepts - August 11, 2022
- Scoping Meeting - Presentation of CEQA Initial Study and EIR - November 16, 2022
- Workshop #4 - Draft Specific Plan Policies and Implementation - March 29, 2023
- To view the presentation click HERE.
- Workshop #5 – Implementing the Plan – June 18, 2024
The City is the Lead Agency pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and has prepared a Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the Project. This Notice of Availability (NOA) is being distributed by the City to solicit written comments from responsible and trustee agencies and other interested organizations and individuals on the Draft EIR.
The potential impacts of the Project were determined to be less than significant for the following topics identified in the Draft EIR: energy, greenhouse gas emissions, hazards and hazardous materials, land use, population and housing, public services, transportation, and utilities and service systems. The potential impacts of the Project were determined to be less than significant for the following topics with the mitigation measures identified in the Draft EIR: cultural resources, geology and soils, noise, and tribal cultural resources. The potential impacts of the Project were determined to be significant and unavoidable for the following topic identified in the Draft EIR: air quality.
Consistent with the requirements of Sections 15087 of the State CEQA Guidelines, this Draft EIR is being made available on June 7, 2024 for public review for a period of 45 days. During this period, responsible and trustee agencies and other interested organizations and individuals may submit written comments on the content of this Draft EIR to the City of San Dimas. Written responses to all comments received on the Draft EIR will all be provided in the Final EIR.
Draft EIR Documents
Copies of the Draft EIR are available digitally (through the links below) or for viewing in person at the San Dimas Planning Division starting Friday, June 7, 2024 through July 22, 2024 at:
San Dimas City Hall - Planning Division
245 E. Bonita Avenue
San Dimas, CA 91773
Monday - Thursday: 7:30 AM - 5:30 PM
Fridays: 7:30 AM - 4:30 PM
- CEQA Notice of Availability
- Draft Environmental Impact Report
- Technical Studies:
Community Advisory Committee (CAC)
The CAC is comprised of residents, local business owners, an architect/resident, and representatives from the Chamber of Commerce, Downtown San Dimas/Bonita Corridor, San Dimas Senior Citizens Club and the Sheriff’s Department. The goal of the CAC will be to provide a diversity of viewpoints, valuable input, and create dialogue to question the plan’s purpose, process, and potential effects, when necessary.
Technical Advisory Committee (TAC)
The TAC is comprised of City Staff from various departments/divisions, project team consultants, and a representative each from the Bonita Unified School District, Metro, Golden State Water Company, Active San Gabriel Valley (SGV), and Foothill Transit. Information gathered from TAC meetings, may include ideas and efforts by their respective organizations, and various studies and reports will help the City in determining where improvements can be made to create a more effective, equitable, and sustainable DTSP.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What is a Specific Plan?
A Specific Plan is a comprehensive planning and zoning document for a defined geographic region of the City. It is also a planning document that implements the goals and policies of the General Plan. These plans contain detailed development standards and implementation measure to which future projects located within a specified geographic area must adhere.
How will the Specific Plan be prepared?
The City of San Dimas has hired a consultant team being led by Interwest Consulting Group to engage with the City staff and the community to develop the Specific Plan. The Downtown Specific Plan is anticipated to be completed and adopted by Spring 2023.
Resources:
November 2023 Draft Downtown Specific Plan
Downtown Specific Plan Fact Sheet
Point of Contact:
For further inquiries about the San Dimas Downtown Specific Plan, please contact Anne Moore, Senior Planner, at amoore@sandimasca.gov or 909.394.6255.