Massive IE Warehousing Plan Raises 'Serious Legal Issues': CA AG

INLAND EMPIRE, CA — A plan that guides growth and development for a 679-acre area in the Inland Empire has "serious legal issues," according to California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who announced Tuesday that he filed a comment letter identifying the perils.

The Airport Gateway Specific Plan "would streamline future development of up to 9.2 million square feet of new warehouses" just north of the San Bernardino Airport, Bonta said. If developed as warehousing, approximately 2,600 residents in a majority-Hispanic community who "suffer from extreme socioeconomic disadvantages and a shortage of affordable housing" would be displaced, the attorney general argues.

Additionally, nearly 9,000 additional heavy-duty diesel truck trips per day would come to the Highland and San Bernardino communities — areas that already experience some of the worst air pollution in the state, according to Bonta.

"Community and environmental groups have raised significant concerns about the proposed Airport Gateway Specific Plan, and they're absolutely right to do so," Bonta said. "My office has submitted a comment letter because this project, in its current form, would likely violate several California housing and environmental laws. While I support economic development, it must be done responsibly and fairly. It is deeply troubling that thousands of individuals would be displaced under the current Airport Gateway Specific Plan, and that there is no proposed relocation assistance for them."

Bonta's June 26 comment letter, which is addressed to the Inland Valley Redevelopment Agency (the lead agency for the Airport Gateway Specific Plan) and to the cities of Highland and San Bernardino, states that the plan violates the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, the Housing Crisis Act of 2019 (SB 330), and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

Warehousing has flourished in the Inland Empire. Retailers, such as Mattel, Stater Bros., Amazon, and Kohl's operate distribution facilities exceeding 1 million square feet and are examples of "thriving large-scale local industrial development" that have sprouted over the last 20 years south of the plan area, according to a June 2022 draft of the Airport Gateway Specific Plan.

The goal of the Airport Gateway Specific Plan is to "create a vision for future development" that would, among other things, "promote the area as a gateway to the airport and existing distribution centers" and "establish the area as the future home for premier industrial, distribution technology, innovation, and distribution firms," according to the draft plan.

The rise of e-commerce and the willingness of local governments to approve massive logistics projects are often cited as reasons for the Inland Empire's unprecedented warehouse growth. The area is home to 1 billion square feet of warehousing and millions more are being constructed at breakneck speed. With the expansion comes urgent concern about the effects of increased truck emissions from the logistics sector on air quality and human health — particularly in disadvantaged communities.

In a January 24 letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom, more than 60 organizations urged the governor to declare a public health state of emergency in the Inland Empire due to the "unchecked escalation of warehouse growth."

Newsom has not announced the requested declaration but he has said he wants to reduce the state's carbon footprint to zero in the next 22 years. The governor said the state plans to spend $180 billion over the next decade on projects to decarbonize California's economy.

This may not be enough to appease warehousing opponents.

"In the Inland Empire, warehouse growth is one of the most critical environmental justice issues of our time," the January 24 letter states. "Our struggles have become a string of losses with human life and health as collateral damage."