The Riverside Alive project concept rendering shows a holiday-lit downtown plaza alongside the existing Riverside Convention Center at right. (Courtesy of Overland Development Company)
City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to certify the environmental impact report (EIR) for the Riverside Alive project, denying appeals from a hospitality workers union and an environmental group that argued the review was premature and legally flawed.
The vote clears an environmental hurdle for the mixed-use development at the Riverside Convention Center site after a seven-year process. The city issued a request for proposals in September 2018 and entered an exclusive negotiating agreement with a developer in May 2019.
Rather than wait for formal project applications, the city conducted environmental review on a "maximum development envelope" that could include 168 residential units, 376 hotel rooms, 220,000 square feet of office space, and a 189,000-square-foot convention center expansion. Any future proposal within those parameters can proceed without additional CEQA review.
UNITE HERE Local 11 and Supporters Alliance for Environmental Responsibility filed appeals after the Planning Commission recommended certification in August. Channel Law Group attorney Jamie Hall, representing the union, urged council to reject certification.
"Certifying the EIR at this juncture is premature and effectively pre-commits the city to future project details," Hall told council.
Hall argued the EIR improperly excluded nearly four acres from its analysis, failed to conduct required vehicle miles traveled analysis, and understated noise, air quality, and health risks. He cited expert reports finding construction would expose nearby residents to cancer risks exceeding significance thresholds.
The appellants submitted over 1,000 pages of materials the day before Tuesday's hearing, prompting questions about timing from council members.
"If this was so important to you, you appealed this in September and it wasn't until the last 24 hours that you dropped over a thousand pages of material on this," Council Member Jim Perry said. "I didn't hear from anybody regarding the appeal until Friday."
The City Attorney's Office rebutted the appellants' legal claims, arguing the envelope approach is valid precisely because it's not tied to a specific proposal. "We don't have a project here," a representative said. "We have a maximum development scenario."
Public speakers supporting the appeals raised concerns about affordable housing and air quality.
"The IE [Inland Empire] has the worst air quality in the nation," said Alan Vargas, a community advocate. "I'm very concerned about what this is going to do for working people who are already struggling."
Andrea Romero, a UNITE HERE Local 11 organizer, criticized the EIR's mitigation measures as inadequate, noting it acknowledges greenhouse gas impacts will be "significant and unavoidable."
Nicholas Adcock, president and CEO of the Greater Riverside Chamber of Commerce, urged council to move forward with certification.
"Due to limited capacity, we're already planning events for 2028 and beyond," Adcock said.
Council Member Sean Mill pushed back on the framing, noting that affordable housing is not an environmental impact under state law.
"This appeal is about whether the EIR complies with CEQA. It's not about approving a project and not about deciding housing policy," Mill said. "I'm always disturbed when people use CEQA as a weapon and not for its intended purposes."
He added that certifying the EIR does not limit future discretion: "Any real project is still going to come back to us for a full review."
Council Member Philip Falcone noted that the project site is currently an asphalt parking lot, dismissing displacement concerns.
"There's not a gentrification issue here because you have a giant asphalt parking lot, so no one's being forced out of this existing site," he said.
Council Member Steven Robillard made the motion to deny the appeals, citing his 10 years of experience in real estate development.
"Studying a full development envelope upfront is how you protect the city," Robillard said. "It forces the worst-case scenario impacts to be analyzed now instead of letting them show up at a later time."
The EIR found air quality and greenhouse gas emissions would have "significant and unavoidable" impacts, primarily from vehicle trips. A statement of overriding considerations—required when a city approves a project despite such impacts—will be adopted when an actual development proposal comes before council.
The council's vote clears the way for developers to submit proposals under the certified EIR, provided they fall within the analyzed envelope.
Council will consider eminent domain for a quiet zone project stopping train horns sounded 31 times daily at two crossings, award $5.56 million for street resurfacing, and review Riverside Alive Project environmental certification appeals.
