City and county officials have generally welcomed the industry, saying warehouses bring desperately needed jobs. And industry advocates say existing guidelines, including under the California Environmental Quality Act, already adequately balance the needs of developers with those of local communities.
In San Bernardino, where federal officials are considering a massive new airport logistics center whose tenant has long been rumored to be Amazon.com Inc., advocates for months have said that not enough was being done to address environmental and quality of life issues that were identified during the project’s environmental review.
Since last year, the attorney general’s office has written several letters to local officials asking for more robust environmental analysis of warehouse projects under California’s Environmental Quality Act to ensure that the impacts of projects are “understood, disclosed, and mitigated to the maximum feasible extent.”Such letters have led to improved reviews, officials with the attorney general’s office said.
And instead of the 1,000-foot buffer that Jeffries had proposed, they adopted a 300-foot buffer, measured from warehouse loading docks to property lines. Supervisor Jeff Hewitt, who made the motion for the opt-out provision, also said he would opt out of the standards because he prefers to consider projects on an individual basis.Libertarian former mayor of Calimesa