CJUSD’s $27M Deal Requires Opposition Withdrawal to Massive Warehouse Project Next to Zimmerman Elementary

An executed settlement between Colton Joint Unified School District and the developer of the Bloomington Business Park shows CJUSD could receive up to $27 million while retaining ownership of Zimmerman Elementary School, but the agreement also requires the district to withdraw its opposition to the project and commits CJUSD not to file or support specified project-related litigation.

CJUSD says Zimmerman, which sits adjacent to the development area, will remain open. San Bernardino County describes the Bloomington Business Park Specific Plan as a roughly 213-acre project that could accommodate up to 3.24 million square feet of industrial and business park uses at full buildout. A Board of Supervisors public hearing is scheduled for Sept. 22.

The Aug. 13 document is formally titled a “Public Benefits, Settlement and Release Agreement.” It states that benefits provided by the developer are “in consideration for the District’s withdrawal of opposition to the Project and the Development Approvals” and other waivers contained in the agreement.

Payments are tied to milestones: $2 million after execution of the agreement and submission of CJUSD’s withdrawal letter; $16 million after what the agreement defines as “CEQA Clearance”; and $9 million tied to certificates of occupancy for three newly constructed buildings — $3 million for the first, $4 million for the second and $2 million for the third.

Under the agreement, CEQA clearance requires necessary environmental approvals and entitlements to be obtained and applicable legal challenge periods to expire without a challenge, or any challenge to end in a final, nonappealable judgment upholding the approvals. The existing California Environmental Quality Act litigation also must be fully resolved in favor of the development approvals.

CJUSD Communications Director Katie Orloff said the $27 million is unrestricted and separate from school development fees required under California Education Code Section 17620. She said the Board of Education has discussed directing the money toward capital improvements, modernization and deferred maintenance.

The agreement requires the developer to ask San Bernardino County to make compliance with its terms a condition of project approval. During construction while school is in session, the agreement expressly calls for worksite fencing, sound barriers, traffic control and crossing guards during student drop-off and pickup.

Orloff said additional protections include air-quality monitoring, dust controls, relocated truck bays and a permanent prohibition on project truck traffic along Linden Avenue. CJUSD has separately said project design changes move truck bays away from Zimmerman and prohibit project-related truck traffic on Linden Avenue adjacent to the school, consistent with anticipated county conditions of approval.

The district’s previous 2022 arrangement with Howard Industrial Partners provided for Zimmerman to close and the school property to be transferred. Asked what changed between that agreement and the current arrangement, Orloff pointed to the change in project ownership.

“When Bloomington Gateway assumed ownership of the project, they were not a party to the District’s 2022 agreement with Howard Industrial Partners,” Orloff said. “The District negotiated with Bloomington Gateway on a new agreement that keeps Zimmerman Elementary open under District ownership, guarantees millions of dollars and includes binding commitments to protect students and staff.”

The settlement also contains non-opposition provisions. The agreement requires CJUSD to withdraw its December 2025 environmental comment letter and issue a public statement, developed in consultation with the developer, announcing that the parties have resolved the district’s objections.

For “District Parties” acting within the course and scope of their official district authority, the agreement identifies certain statements opposing the project at governmental hearings as a material breach not subject to cure. Other public statements opposing the project described by the agreement may be cured within 24 hours after notice from the developer through a formal district repudiation.

Under those provisions, a material breach can terminate future payment obligations and require previously made settlement payments to be returned.

CJUSD also agrees not to file specified litigation challenging, delaying or interfering with the project or related approvals. The agreement further says the district will not encourage, support, endorse, fund or direct certain third-party litigation, including actions by community organizations, parents or resident groups.

A draft Aug. 18 withdrawal letter provided by CJUSD says the district’s December 2025 comments focused primarily on air quality, noise, transportation and health-risk impacts at Zimmerman. The draft says the new agreement provides measures addressing those concerns and that CJUSD “wishes to formally withdraw its opposition to the Project” as currently described. It also reserves the district’s right to submit further comments if the project is significantly altered.

The county originally approved the project and certified its Environmental Impact Report in November 2022. In September 2024, San Bernardino County Superior Court ruled in favor of petitioners on CEQA issues involving alternatives, air quality, greenhouse gas emissions, energy and construction noise, while denying relief on other grounds. The court ordered the county to set aside certification of the EIR and related project approvals.

South Coast Air Quality Management District raised technical concerns during the recirculated environmental review. Asked whether its primary concerns had been adequately addressed, Senior Public Affairs Specialist Connie Villanueva said the county responded to AQMD’s comments and “indicated that they disagreed with recommended changes to the analysis.”

Villanueva said AQMD’s supplemental technical comments “explained that the use of the COBRA model may have underestimated the adverse health effects of the project.” She said the county provided additional explanation in the Final EIR for its reliance on the model.

At the localized level, Villanueva said the Final EIR concluded modeled cancer risk at nearby sensitive receptors, including Zimmerman, would be below South Coast AQMD’s CEQA significance threshold of 10 in 1 million.

Separately, she said the county identified regional operational emissions of nitrogen oxides, or NOx, and volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, as significant and unavoidable.

“A significant and unavoidable impact means the lead agency determined that certain impacts would remain significant even after all feasible mitigation measures are applied,” Villanueva said.

Asked about the project and concerns raised during the environmental review, Bloomington Gateway referred Inland Empire Community News to the recirculated draft and final Environmental Impact Report documents and emphasized the development’s projected economic and infrastructure benefits.

Bloomington Gateway Senior Vice President Rohan A’Beckett said the project is expected to support more than 1,900 permanent on-site jobs and approximately 4,100 one-time construction jobs within San Bernardino County.

A’Beckett said the project has committed to using union labor and working with the county’s Workforce Development Department to help connect Bloomington residents with future employment opportunities.

He also said Bloomington Gateway expects the project to provide more than $74 million in infrastructure and community investments, including miles of new roads, sidewalks and traffic signals, along with miles of storm-drain improvements that have already begun. According to A’Beckett, the investment also includes a one-time community contribution and an annual community enhancement fee intended to support public services and community needs.

A’Beckett said the developer has also held multiple community meetings since October 2024.

“Since October 2024, we have held multiple community meetings to provide project updates, hear directly from Bloomington residents and better understand local priorities and concerns,” A’Beckett said. “That dialogue has helped inform our approach as the project has moved forward, and we remain committed to continued engagement with residents, community organizations and other local stakeholders.”

People’s Collective for Environmental Justice, one of the petitioners in the CEQA litigation, remains critical of the agreement and argues that protections focused on Zimmerman do not resolve the broader impacts of industrial development on surrounding schools and neighborhoods.

“Although emphasis was placed on protecting the students of Zimmerman, CJUSD has an obligation to protect all students from the impacts,” PC4EJ Communications Specialist Beatriz Valenzuela said.

Valenzuela said Bloomington residents remain concerned about existing truck traffic near schools, the health effects of poor air quality and what PC4EJ views as a lack of transparency surrounding Zimmerman’s long-term future. She said residents have described school drop-off trips taking 30 to 40 minutes amid traffic and noted that many children walk across streets carrying heavy truck traffic.

“You cannot confine air pollution to a 10’ boundary. It’s transient,” Valenzuela said. “The project will be Zimmerman’s next-door neighbor.”

Asked separately about CJUSD’s outreach regarding the new $27 million agreement, Orloff cited the Aug. 13 public board meeting and the district’s English- and Spanish-language news release. Her response did not identify additional direct outreach or describe feedback received from Zimmerman families or Bloomington residents.

State Sen. Eloise Gómez Reyes remains opposed to the project, saying the agreement does not eliminate the air-quality and land-use concerns surrounding development next to the school.

“I remain strongly opposed to the Bloomington Business Park project,” Reyes said. “An agreement providing funding and additional protections for Zimmerman Elementary does not eliminate the impacts of placing a massive logistics development next to a school. No financial payment can create clean air for a child breathing diesel pollution.”

Reyes also pointed to the environmental review and South Coast AQMD’s concerns in calling for stronger health protections.

“The significant and unavoidable air-quality impacts identified in the environmental review, along with concerns raised by South Coast AQMD, only reinforce the need for the most health-protective standards possible,” Reyes said. “I strongly urge the County to reject this project.”

San Bernardino County Supervisor Joe Baca Jr.’s office did not respond to a request for comment.