A zoning ordinance that includes approval of an industrial designation for properties located in the Lenwood area to allow for a proposed aluminium casting facility will go before the City Council during a 7 p.m. Monday meeting.

The zoning ordinance amendment is required as part of an effort by Barstow to revise the zoning map to bring it into conformity with the 2015-20 General Plan.

Mojave Aluminum Company President Eric Shen said he plans to construct a 500,000-square-foot aluminum remelt and casting plant on a 173-acre site at the southeast corner of Gazana Street and Amarylis Avenue.

During a public coping meeting on the project, held in April, Economic Development and Planning Manager Gaither Loewenstein said the site will be developed with an aluminum direct chill billet casting facility. It will include a 500,000-square-foot cast house, 11,000-square-foot office building, on-site water treatment and power plants, and a primary metal storage area.

Loewenstein said the facility will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week. He also said the project site would be designed to be visually screened from surrounding uses through the construction of a landscaped berm.

The Planning Commission held a public hearing on June 22 and voted to forward the proposed zoning ordinance amendment to the City Council. But the commission attached a recommendation that the Council reconsider the industrial designation assigned to the properties targeted for the aluminum plant.

"The City Council, based on the recommendation of the Planning Commission, previously assigned an industrial land use designation to this property as part of its adoption of the comprehensive General Plan Revision in January 2015," the staff report said.

"Based, in part, on this Council action the property owner moved forward in preparing an application for a conditional use permit to allow the operation of an aluminum casting facility, accompanied by an Environmental Impact Report for the proposed project. The applicant is in the final stages of preparation of the EIR and this matter is expected to come before the Planning Commission in September 2015."

The report said the City Council will have the opportunity to reconsider the industrial zoning designation of the properties in the event the Commission elects to deny the conditional use permit for an aluminum casting facility following its review of the Environmental Impact Report. That decision could be appealed to the City Council.

The staff report also said the City Council could approve the proposed zoning ordinance amendment while assigning a residential zoning designation to properties located south of Gazana and east of Amaryllis. In this case, the staff report says the Council would be adopting a zoning map that is inconsistent with the General Plan. The report said that would be a violation of California Planning Law.

"In the event that the proposed aluminum casting facility is subsequently denied and the Council determines that that the site is better suited for residential than industrial development, staff can be directed to prepare a General Plan amendment and zoning ordinance revision," the report said. "Changing the designation of the property to residential, that can be concurrently reviewed by the Planning Commission and City Council."