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In 1999, Pomona resident Joe Hinojos knocked on doors in southeast Pomona to organize neighbors against a wood products facility that polluted the air and left sawdust in backyards.
Residents of industrialized Southern California cities have long opposed the proliferation of waste facilities near their homes. Mostly in Latino areas. These efforts culminated in City Council approval in 2012. Controversial waste transfer station.
The decision sparked a wave of activity in Pomona. Her two environmental justice organizations, Clean and Green Pomona and United Voices of Pomona for Environmental Justice (co-founded by the Hinojos' daughter Linda), were launched in his 2012 year. Two years later, the group successfully advocated for a ban on new waste and recycling facilities.
But basic zoning that allows industrial uses near homes remains, and online shopping has increased demand for warehouses and air-polluting diesel trucks. The same group that fought the waste facility a decade ago is now fighting another source of pollution in the same neighborhood.
But after 75 years, the City of Pomona is finally on track this year to make major changes to its city planning regulations for the first time since they were first enacted in 1949. The new urban planning regulations are expected to be completed around April.
“Many facilities that our community did not want ended up being placed in our city, and there was no zoning or accountability to stop it. We've been working on it, but zoning is really important because it determines how things fit into the fabric of the city,“ said Lisa Engdahl, Clean and Green Pomona's board chair.
How does zoning work?
Across Southern California, each community's zoning code (a maze of (such as a technical and detailed set of rules). How the neighborhood looks and feels. Zoning and land use decisions are also the basis for many environmental justice issues, as they determine how close polluting facilities are to homes and schools, often impacting low-income communities of color disproportionately. This is because it causes pollution.
In Pomona, pollution disproportionately affects predominantly Latino neighborhoods in the city's industrial areas. The southeast corner of Pomona, where warehouses have proliferated in recent years, is one of the most polluted areas in California. As of 2018, The district was in the 92nd percentile of areas with the highest pollution burden in California. This means that only 8% of the regions in the state experienced higher pollution loads.around me every day 8,000 trucks shuttle between 125 warehouses in Pomonawhich emit large amounts of greenhouse gases and particulate matter that are associated with respiratory problems and other health problems.
Like many other cities, Pomona's development was shaped by discriminatory redlining practices in the 1930s. Redline zones (primarily communities of color) were considered „dangerous“ and white communities were considered suitable for investment.
Pomona's first and current zoning map was created in 1949
Pomona adopted its first zoning map in 1949, when these practices were becoming more common, and that map has remained in place for nearly 75 years, shaping today's health disparities.Reservoir Street, which now borders an industrial area, was listed as „in decline“ on the 1939 redline map. and „largely owned by the low-income working class.“
“The fact that it took this long to update the zoning code certainly reflects past professional errors and reflects the failure to make important updates that impact community health.” ,” Engdahl said.
When this code was adopted, apartment buildings were intentionally placed next to industrial zones to protect single-family residential areas. But at the time, single-family homes had deed restrictions that prevented non-white families from purchasing them, which meant that communities of color were intentionally placed near industrial sites, creating a divide. It continues even now.Over 90 percent of Pomona's population is Hispanic. live within an industrial or high-density area While located in close proximity to major highways, the majority of the city's white population lives away from major highways. industrial area.
„Systemic discrimination based on the condition of our streets, housing, and environment remains prevalent in the City of Pomona,“ said Nora Garcia, a City Council member who represents southeastern Pomona. „There's no question in my mind that outdated zoning codes like this help keep things alive. But I also think it's an old prejudice against communities like mine. It’s also ironic enough to believe it happened.”
Today, the 67-year-old Hinojo family still lives on Phillips Boulevard, but the home they lived there for 40 years is technically a „nonconforming“ use that doesn't fit with the area's industrial zoning. This is one of many such homes in this area, which is home to more than 17,500 residents. Hinojo and his friends, who have lived in this polluted area for decades, needed a double lung transplant two years ago.
„What is our health worth? How much is a life worth trying to clean up this pollution? Insurance claims $1.7 million for my surgery. „My life so far is worth $1.7 million,“ he said.
„Historically, this has been Pomona's reputation,“ Linda Hinojos said as she drove past warehouses and scrapyards in the industrial area. „But we're changing that now…. We now have a different vision of what we want this city to be.“
zoning code updates, One of several measures currently in place Addressing structural racism in Pomona's land use policies is one way the city is seeking to achieve that vision.
Currently, the City of Pomona's Zoning Code has no specific regulations or standards for large warehouses or other logistics facilities and has not been comprehensively updated since 1949. The city's current zoning code has only one definition of manufacturing zoning, which allows for a wide range of manufacturing industries. and industrial applications. Without a more specific definition of what is allowed, city staff will interpret whether each business application complies with the zoning. Additionally, while the old zoning code only specified permitted „uses,“ such as warehousing in an industrial zone, the new zoning code now allows for more specific uses, such as building size and function. further defines what is permissible in the region. Ata Khan, the company's planning manager, said „warehouse“ is no longer a use, but a „type“ of building, recognizing that warehouses can be used for a variety of purposes, including breweries and distribution centers. City.
Engdahl said current zoning also makes it difficult to hold companies accountable, as many facilities have conditional use permits with their own rules. “In the absence of consistent zoning, it is up to the leadership at the time to decide what rules have been agreed upon for that particular facility (…) how well thought out and how consistent those rules are. I don’t know if it depends. Also consider the planning situation of the city,” Engdahl said.
Pomona warehouse temporary suspension
Environmental justice groups sought and won a moratorium on construction of large new warehouses and trucking facilities in July 2022, but the Pomona City Council passed multiple extensions. The warehouse moratorium is also related to a zoning code update, and while staff works on new regulations that will be more relevant to the logistics industry in 2023, this moratorium is based on the 1949 zoning code. It was intended to prevent new large warehouses from being approved.
However, in early December 2023, the City Council voted to allow the moratorium to expire, ending the long-running but ultimately temporary measure. The City Council failed to receive six of the seven votes needed for an extension at its Dec. 4 meeting.Deputy Mayor Elizabeth Ontiveros Cole Despite the majority of public comments supporting the extension, there was some pushback from industry representatives, including Councilman Robert Torres, who both voted against the extension.
This means that starting January 1, 2024, the zoning surrounding Pomona's warehouses will once again go back to 1949, and will remain in place until the city finalizes the zoning code this spring. Khan said at the December meeting that the typical timeline for approving construction permits for new warehouses is that developers submit applications in January and are unlikely to be approved before the zoning code is updated. said to mean. However, the city frequently receives license applications for existing properties that could be repurposed as logistics facilities.
„For the past two years, almost once a week, our department has been shut down because someone intended to do something but ended up doing something else,“ Khan told the City Council on Dec. 4. „I regret getting the license,“ he said. There is no mention of e-commerce in the business license line and there is nothing binding us on them. He might go back to that facility in two months, but it's full of his 100 trailers and there's no code to shut it off. ”
This article was supported by a grant from the Los Angeles Press Club.