Who Actually Sets the Rules?

Conversations about warehouses have revealed an important misunderstanding about how Ontario city government works.

I serve as an appointed Planning Commissioner. I am not a City Councilmember.

Those are different jobs.

Ontario describes the Planning Commission as the body that reviews development applications case by case, advises the City Council on planning matters, and makes decisions on many individual entitlement applications. (City of Ontario)

That means commissioners must evaluate the project in front of us under the city's adopted General Plan, zoning, Specific Plans, Development Code, environmental requirements and state law.

A commissioner cannot simply walk into a hearing and say, "I don't like warehouses, so no more warehouses."

If the required findings cannot be made, a project may be denied or recommended for denial. But the Planning Commission does not unilaterally rewrite Ontario's broader land-use policies.

Ontario describes the City Council as the city's "legislative, policy-making branch." (City of Ontario)

That distinction matters.

I did not create the decades-old planning framework I was appointed to work within. And serving on the Planning Commission should not be confused with holding elected policymaking authority over the city's long-term direction.

Alan Wapner, meanwhile, has served on the Ontario City Council for more than 30 years, according to the City's own biography. (City of Ontario)

That does not mean one councilmember is responsible for every warehouse built in Ontario. Development decisions involve multiple officials, laws, property owners and planning processes.

But when discussing how Ontario's growth policies developed over decades, it is important for residents to understand which offices actually held policymaking authority during that time.

I'm not going to hide my own record.

As a Planning Commissioner, I have voted on warehouse projects.

My position is straightforward:

I am not pro-warehouse. I am not anti-warehouse. I am pro-responsible planning.

That means evaluating where a project is proposed, its proximity to homes and schools, truck traffic, air quality, infrastructure, mitigation measures and whether the required legal findings can actually be made.

Residents should hold Planning Commissioners accountable for the decisions we make.

But they should also know the difference between reviewing projects under an existing planning framework and holding elected authority to change that broader framework.

Planning Commissioners review projects within the rules. City Councilmembers hold the elected policymaking authority over the broader rules.

Residents deserve to know the difference.