The Alere Rider Street Distribution Center would cover 642,000 square feet on a 28-acre site on the north side of Rider Street and west of Redlands Avenue.

Newport Beach-based Alere Property Group is developing the project.

Johnson and Redlands avenues would be improved as part of the project and a traffic signal would be installed at the intersection of Redlands Avenue and Rider Street.

An environmental impact report will address major issues such as traffic and air quality.

Commissioner Dave Stuart said he also wanted another issue addressed: fire resources. Typically, the warehouses go as high as 40 feet and would probably require a ladder company, should a fire occur.

"As long as we keep building these warehouses, we overstress our resources," he said after the meeting.

The other proposed project, Oakmont Industrial Center, on the southeast corner of Markham Street and Brennan Avenue, will feature five distribution warehouses totaling 1.6 million square feet on 80 acres.

Resident Wynn Maile, who lives about a quarter-mile from the proposed Oakmont project, voiced a list of concerns, from potential glare from lighting to potential crime to noise issues.

Maile was also concerned that the surrounding streets would not be able to handle the traffic and would bring additional traffic and potential safety hazards into her neighborhood.

"That would change a lot of our lives," she said.

The next step in both projects is to complete a draft environmental impact report and begin a 45-day review addressing all the questions and concerns raised in the meeting and from the public.

There are two existing distribution centers in the city: Ross Stores and Lowe's Cos.

Five more have been approved and four are in review, planning officials said.