A. The Town Center vision was conceived during the General Plan Update process (“Diamond Bar General Plan 2040”), adopted by the City Council in December 2019. During that process, residents expressed a desire to create a downtown, or “Town Center,” in Diamond Bar: a walkable place with entertainment, retail, restaurants, community gathering spaces and urban housing opportunities. While Diamond Bar has numerous centers of activity, including the Diamond Bar Center, the City Hall and Library complex, high schools, and various suburban-style commercial centers, the city currently lacks a clear downtown or any central gathering place. During the General Plan Update process, community stakeholders regularly cited examples of adjacent communities they like to visit and patronize because those communities have thriving historic, revitalized and newly created downtowns. Some of the cities mentioned are: Brea, Chino Hills, Claremont, Fullerton and Monrovia.

A. In 2021, the City engaged the Urban Land Institute – Los Angeles District Council (ULI-LA) to assemble a Technical Assistance Panel (TAP) to study the area and make recommendations for design considerations, local policy changes, and investments needed to make the town center in Diamond Bar a reality. The TAP was conducted between April 12-16, 2021, and included panelists visiting and analyzing the area, and then presenting recommendations about the opportunities for the project area. The TAP also presented its findings and recommendations at a Special Joint Planning Commission/City Council meeting on April 16, 2021, which was open to the public. A copy of the Diamond Bar Town Center TAP Report can be found at https://www.diamondbarca.gov/1065/Town-Center-Development

A. During the General Plan 2040 process, several sites were initially identified and discussed as potential locations for the Town Center. Other sites under consideration included the intersection of Grand Avenue and Diamond Bar Boulevard and different portions of the golf course. These evaluations included extensive public input. Ultimately, the Diamond Bar Boulevard and Golden Springs Drive area was determined to be the best location for a Town Center. The site’s scale, topography, accessibility and relationship to existing residential areas made it the preferred location for a re-envisioned downtown for Diamond Bar, and it was also preferred by community members who provided input into this process.

A. The Diamond Bar Town Center Specific Plan will refine the overall vision, policies, objectives and land use regulations for the Town Center Mixed-use Focus Area—identifying development standards, design guidelines, infrastructure improvement needs, and implementation and financing strategies for the plan area. These refinements to existing policy will create a blueprint for a Town Center and, ultimately, facilitate the realization of this vision. One of the keys to the success of this Specific Plan will be to determine the overall residential density necessary to enable the vision for a walkable downtown to come to life. Adoption of a Specific Plan and the associated policies will create the framework necessary to incentivize private sector investment by developers into the Diamond Bar community in a manner that enables them to provide public plazas and amenities, as well as new commercial development opportunities.

A. As part of the Specific Plan process, the City is conducting extensive community engagement with several public workshops and a community design charrette. The City Council will vote on the Specific Plan in late summer/fall 2023. The community will be invited to attend the public meetings and share their input.

A. Yes, the City has hired a CEQA consultant to conduct an environmental review of the site, as part of the Specific Plan development process. The environmental document will be a Supplement to the General Plan Environmental Impact Report (EIR), and will be determined after the basic framework and scope of the Specific Plan are defined. The environmental consultant will study air quality, noise, visuals, and other impacts–and the community will be able to review and comment on this information in the community workshops and elsewhere.

A. The Specific Plan process is expected to be complete by late 2023. Implementation of the vision will take significant effort and time, and is subject to market forces and developer interest. A wide range of development incentives, funding options, public investment, and administrative processes will be explored as part of the process. The first phase of development is likely to occur on properties in the southwestern portion of the area along Golden Springs Drive, where property owners have expressed a desire to make the needed investment in support of the General Plan 2040 vision for the Town Center Focus area. We anticipate this portion could be completed within the next two to four years.

A. In mid-2022, the City held a community workshop and a four-day charrette session, which were entirely open to the public. If you were not able to attend but would like to view the presentations and videos, please visit the "Get Involved" page, where you may also share your ideas. In January 2023, the public was invited to attend a Joint City Council and Planning Commission Meeting, then there was another Community Meeting in March. On June 8th 2023, we will hold a Scoping meeting on the Supplemental Environmental Impact Report (SIR). Please sign up for our email list to stay informed!

A. Community input is essential to this process. Stakeholders are invited to share their vision for what a successful Town Center area would mean for them by way of any of the variety of platforms available. We are looking for robust input from stakeholders on all elements of the project including design elements, scale, development features and environmental concerns. Resident input will help shape a Town Center area that works for the community and benefits current as well as future generations.

A. It is premature to say at this time, what the anticipated building heights will be for the various portions of the project. The project team will be having those discussions with the community and will have more information to share as we get further into the preparation of the Specific Plan. The project team will recommend design controls for appropriate, sensitive development, particularly when it is adjacent to existing residential neighborhoods. Extra care will be taken to provide proper transitions between new and existing development and to incorporate pedestrian-scaled design.

A. The City is envisioning that the Town Center will attract a mix of neighborhood-supporting restaurants, retailers, and service providers. The area is already home to a robust number of choices and we anticipate that the offerings will diversify even further to include more restaurants and entertainment options.

A. As with the rest of the plan elements, the residential density recommendations will be determined through the Specific Plan preparation process and will be subject to community input. The current density for the site is limited to 20 units per acre, or a buildout of 900 units over the entire 45-acre site, but higher densities will be considered during the planning process.

A. The Specific Plan, when released in mid-2023, will provide design, scale and density recommendations for the area. From there, it will be up to the developers to propose projects that meet the criteria for turning the Town Center vision into a reality. The community will have the ability to give input on specific projects as they are considered by the City.

A. The State of California requires all cities to plan for future housing needs through a process called the Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA). The City of Diamond Bar is required to plan for 2,521 total housing units for the community, including 1,278 low- and very-low-income units. The City’s adopted Housing Element has already identified the Town Center Mixed-Use District as one of the sites that will contribute toward meeting Diamond Bar’s RHNA obligation, and the Specific Plan process will provide the opportunity to consider housing opportunities for all income categories, as well as “inclusionary” housing requirements for lower-income households.

A. Traffic impacts will be studied in accordance with General Plan policies and in a fully-transparent manner. The traffic impact analysis will also identify improvements to the City’s roadway network that can offset such impacts, while balancing the community’s desire to make Diamond Bar, and the Town Center in particular, more walkable.

A. Appropriate site planning and parking requirements are important elements of well-designed new developments. The designers will use right-sized parking requirements and parking design strategies such as placement to the rear or side of parcels, and potentially adding parking structures, in order to create a more walkable, memorable place.

A. Under CEQA, Scoping is an early and open process for determining the scope of issues to be addressed in the environmental document--intended to identify the range of issues pertinent to the proposed project, and feasible alternatives or mitigation measures to avoid potentially significant environmental effects. Please view the Notice of Preparation here.

A. The initial study found that nine environmental issue areas would have the potential to result in significant impacts requiring further analysis in the draft Supplemental EIR: 1.) Aesthetics, 2.) Air quality, 3.) Greenhouse gas emissions, 4.) Hydrology/water quality, 5.) Noise, 6.) Public services, 7.) Recreation, 8.) Transportation, and 9.) Utilities/service systems. Please view the Initial Study here.