Warehouse Moratorium Could Allay Environmental and Health Concerns

On February 22, the Redlands City Planning Commission made a unanimous recommendation to City Council for a warehouse moratorium in the city. A moratorium would allow for study of the cumulative impact of warehouse development on the environment, communities, and citizens as well as create guidelines for future approvals.

Commissioner Karah Shaw was the first to suggest a moratorium. Chair Stephen Frasher stated no one applicant for development should feel penalized by the cumulative effect, but that he did support the moratorium. 

Shaw made a motion for the recommendation. Commissioner Matt Endsley seconded the motion.

Advocates for the moratorium applauded this move, saying warehouse construction prioritizes short-term economic gain over the environent as well as the health and well-being of residents.  

Though Redlands has passed several measures aimed at regulating commercial development, and The California Environmental Quality Act requires most development projects go through an environmental certification process to ensure the projects will not negatively impact communities, many developers have applied for exemptions. Endsley expressed a desire at the meeting to better track exemptions.

Exemptions must come with a plan for monitoring environmental impact, but Redlands resident Shan Garcia explained how these exemptions have played out in the past. "This concerns me because of what we experienced in District 1 this year," Garcia said, explaining that a warehouse developer was served a notice of abatement after under 2 months of construction for having so many repeat violations. "It wasn’t the city of Redlands or any agency Redlands hired who monitored the excessive particulate matter and trackout coming from the construction site in my neighborhood, who noticed unserviced equipment, & reported violations. It took the very few people who haven’t been bought out by developers and an outside agency to protect us," said Garcia.

When a developer has multiple violations, they are given time to correct them. 

Garcia said, "Having repeat violations proves that developers are ignoring not only the complaints from residents themselves but developers are ignoring the negative environmental impact they are having in the communities around them and disregarding the lives of the people who have lived here generations."

These projects have caused health problems for Garcia, who said, "I’ve lived my whole life without respiratory issues. Since warehouse construction started on my street, I have to use a prescription inhaler just to be able to breathe. If in just two years this has impacted my body to the point of needing medication to breathe, what will it look like 5 years from now? 10? 20? We already know that excessive particulate matter in the air can cause serious and life threatening illnesses. Are residents in the rapidly changing Zone 1 just a sacrifice for quick money?"

Development advocates claim warehouses bring good jobs. Garcia is skeptical of this argument, saying, "My grandfather was a carpenter for construction for over 45 years. He had every cancer & disease associated with the dusts he was exposed to at job sites. No amount of pay prevented that. Almost every person he worked with died of mesothelioma, lung cancer, fibrosis, & COPD about 10-20 years before their peers working outside of the industry. Hundreds of hard working people gone too soon because 'economic development' was worth more than their lives. Economic progress at the expense of our resident’s lives is not progress."

Garcia is concerned not only about the number of warehouses being built, but their size and use. "Residents across all of our cities are very clear that they do not want any more 100,000+ sq ft warehouses in their neighborhoods. Investors are only interested in large scale production and 100,000 sq ft is quickly becoming “too small” for demand. Some cities are even considering demolishing existing buildings to reconstruct even bigger ones to meet this industry demand."

Commissioner Maryn Wells brought up this concern during the Februarry 22 City Planning Commission Meeting. Development Services Director Brian Desatnik confirmed that "too small" structures do exist in the city.

"In other words," Garcia said, "a lot of what Redlands invested in over the past decade as far as warehousing is concerned, is proving to not have as great a return as hoped. And since residents clearly don’t want anymore bigger warehouses, there is a need to come up with creative solutions to better diversify use of Commercial/Industrial zones, especially where single-family homes are still present."

According to Garcia, as of May 2021, six warehouses totaling over 700,000 sq ft were approved in the West end of the city. By July 20, 2021, the council approved two more warehouses proposed by Duke Realty totaling over 400,000 sq ft on Mountain View Ave. By September 2021, two more totaling over 19,000 sq ft were approved on West Park Ave. This year, LDC & Fullmer Construction began warehouse construction where the old Bracken Bird Farm used to be, receiving the abatement notice Garcia described. Across the street, another developer received a violation during demolition.

Zone 1 is particularly vulnerable, Garcia said, because much of it is old, prime agricultural land but zoned for Commercial/Industrial use. "This has dramatically increased property value in East Valley Corridor, leaving multi million dollar construction companies to be some of the only bidders who can afford these costs. Families who have lived here for generations are being driven out by over development and those who are not able to sell or leave, have no choice but to suffer the consequences of these unregulated exemptions," Garcia said.

"Unfortunately, it would be very difficult to change our zoning here in Zone 1, but we can have a say in the types of businesses, developers, & constructors our city brings into our neighborhoods."

Residents can express their concerns through public comment at the next City Council Meeting on March 1st at 5pm. Garcia hopes people will speak in in support of the moratorium on future projects as well as current projects with repeat violations. "Just because there are few of us living in industrial development areas of the city, does not mean we are exempt from needing to breathe clean air. We are still living, breathing human beings with needs. We hear so many concerns from council and planning commission about how warehouses negatively impact traffic and how the city 'looks.' We rarely hear about any of of elected officials being concerned about how this impacts the health of our residents," Garcia said.

Garcia also urged citizens to report environmental violations, especially dust in the air or on the street to 1-800-CUTSMOG. "Exposure to particulate matter in the air for any amount of time can cause serious and life threatening illnesses like asthma, fibrosis, lung cancer, & more," Garcia said. "It takes less than 5 minutes and one simple call could literally save lives."