Sunset Crossroads: What NorthPoint Says vs. What the Development Agreement Guarantees
What does the Sunset Crossroads Development Agreement actually guarantee?
NorthPoint has promoted several benefits of Sunset Crossroads, including 98 acres of parks and open space, commercial development, thousands of jobs, and a potential fire station.
I reviewed the Development Agreement included in the City’s adopted documents to compare NorthPoint’s statements with what the City’s adopted documents identify and what the agreement legally requires.
Here is what residents should understand about the differences between NorthPoint’s stated plans, the City’s adopted documents, and the agreement’s binding contractual obligations.
1. Parks and Open Space: 98 Acres vs. Approximately 65 Acres
What NorthPoint says: The project will provide approximately 98 acres of parks and open space, including a new 12-acre park.
What the City’s adopted documents identify: The Specific Plan identifies approximately 53 acres of resource open space and 12.6 acres of park-related land, including walking trails—a total of approximately 65 acres.
NorthPoint intends to convert two additional parcels currently designated for industrial use into parks. However, the Development Agreement does not require those changes.
What the Development Agreement legally requires: The agreement includes requirements for open space and park-related land, but it does not require the additional industrially designated parcels to be converted to parks.
Why it matters: The advertised 98 acres includes future plans that are not binding requirements of the Development Agreement.
2. Commercial Development: 78 Acres vs. 47.9 Acres
What NorthPoint says: The project will include approximately 78 acres of commercial development.
What the City’s adopted documents identify: Approximately 47.9 acres are identified for commercial uses. The Development Agreement references up to 223,753 square feet of commercial uses.
NorthPoint intends to convert additional land currently designated for industrial use to commercial use. The Development Agreement does not require those additional redesignations.
What the Development Agreement legally requires: The agreement establishes certain commercial development requirements, but it does not guarantee the additional acreage NorthPoint intends to convert to commercial use.
Why it matters: The advertised commercial acreage includes future changes that are not guaranteed by the agreement.
3. Sam’s Club and Other Retail Businesses
What NorthPoint says: Sam’s Club will be built first.
What the City’s adopted documents identify: Sam’s Club has been presented as a planned anchor tenant for the project.
What the Development Agreement legally requires: The agreement establishes requirements for commercial development, including commencement of construction of at least 100,000 square feet of commercial uses within 36 months of the agreement’s effective date, subject to its terms. It does not require Sam’s Club to be built first or guarantee that Sam’s Club—or any specific retailer—will locate at Sunset Crossroads.
Why it matters: NorthPoint’s stated construction sequence and the agreement’s actual requirements are not the same.
4. 3,700 Permanent Jobs
What NorthPoint says: The project will create more than 3,700 permanent jobs.
What the City’s adopted documents identify: The project’s employment figures are projections.
What the Development Agreement legally requires: The agreement does not guarantee that this number of permanent jobs will materialize, nor does it guarantee that the jobs will go to Banning residents.
Why it matters: Projected job numbers are not the same as contractual guarantees.
5. A New Fire Station
What NorthPoint says: Sunset Crossroads will provide a new fire station to serve the area.
What the City’s adopted documents identify: The Development Agreement provides for land to be reserved for a potential facility and includes a $16 million fire station payment. However, the agreement acknowledges that the City and Riverside County Fire have not identified a current need or established a plan to build a station.
What the Development Agreement legally requires: The agreement includes requirements related to the land and payment, but it does not guarantee that a fire station will be built. It also allows the City to use the payment for other City purposes if it elects not to build the station, subject to the agreement’s terms.
Why it matters: Providing land and funding does not guarantee that a fire station will be constructed.
6. Truck Barrier
What NorthPoint says: A truck barrier will limit westbound truck traffic.
What the City’s adopted documents identify: The Development Agreement requires a truck barrier system on Sun Lakes Boulevard at the western boundary, subject to City approval, to limit heavy-truck access west of the property.
What the Development Agreement legally requires: The agreement requires the barrier system but does not guarantee that it will prevent every prohibited truck movement. The provision we reviewed does not specify how eastbound truck traffic will be addressed.
Why it matters: Residents deserve clarity about the barrier’s design, the truck movements it is intended to restrict, and whether eastbound traffic is addressed by other requirements.
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Why Does This Matter?
There is a difference between what a developer says it will deliver, what the City’s adopted documents identify, and what the Development Agreement legally requires.
Residents deserve transparency about what is guaranteed, what is proposed for the future, and what is not guaranteed at all.
Read the actual Development Agreement. Compare NorthPoint’s statements with the City’s adopted documents. Understand what the agreement legally requires.
Share this update so other Banning residents can make informed decisions about Sunset Crossroads.
Review the City’s adopted documents here, Development Agreements starts on pg 110: