Last week the Chino Hills City Council passed the long awaited update of the General Plan. They set aside the issue of zoning for the 3,000 acres of hills along the 71 freeway.  Landowners have suggested the land is zoned one unit per five acres. However, Hills For Everyone provided City Council minutes from 1994 showing the Council voted 5-0 to leave the existing County zoning in place at one house per forty acres.

This decision was not elegantly handled in the text of the General Plan, although it is quite clear on the zoning map and elsewhere. The difference in units between the two zoning levels is 600 houses (an additional 6,000 vehicle trips a day) versus 75 houses (an additional 750 vehicle trips a day).

The City Council will look into the issue in the coming months. They may clarify it or they may leave it alone. The State Park has long wanted to buy portions of these properties and one significant landowner now appears interested in selling.