Ordinance No. 1283INTERIM URGENCY ORDINANCE NO. 1283
AN INTERIM URGENCY ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE
CITY OF VERNON, PURSUANT TO GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION
65858, ADOPTING A 45-DAY TEMPORARY MORATORIUM ON THE
ESTABLISHMENT, EXPANSION, OR MODIFICATION OF WAREHOUSE
USES, FREIGHT TERMINALS, TRUCK TERMINALS, CONTAINER
STORAGE, AND CONTAINER PARKING WITHIN THE CITY OF VERNON
AND DECLARING THE URGENCY THEREOF
SECTION 1. Recitals.
A. The City of Vernon (City) is a municipal corporation and a chartered city of the
State of California organized and existing under its charter and the Constitution of
the State of California.
B. The State Planning and Zoning Law (California Government Code Sections 65000,
et seq.) broadly empowers the City to plan for and regulate the use of land in order
to provide for orderly development, the public health, safety, and welfare, and a
balancing of property rights and the desires of the community.
C. This Interim Urgency Ordinance is enacted pursuant to the authority conferred
upon the City Council of the City of Vernon by Government Code Section 65858
and shall be in full force and effect immediately upon its adoption by a four-fifths
(4/5) vote of the City Council as if, and to the same extent that, such Ordinance
had been adopted pursuant to each of the individual sections set forth herein. The
City Council of the City of Vernon also finds and declares that it is necessary and
appropriate to adopt this Ordinance as an emergency measure, pursuant to
Chapter 4.4 of the Charter of the City of Vernon, for the immediate preservation of
the public safety, health, or peace.
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF VERNON HEREBY ORDAINS:
SECTION 2. The City Council of the City of Vernon hereby finds and determines
that the above recitals are true and correct and are a substantial part of this Ordinance.
SECTION 3. Definitions. The following definitions are applicable to this Interim
Urgency Ordinance, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
A. “Cargo container” shall mean any container sufficiently durable for repeated use
which, by virtue of its own particular design, permits the temporary storage and
protection of bulk commodities, goods, and other cargo, and which may be
transported in various modes without intermediate loading or unloading.
B. “Cargo container storage“ shall mean a facility for the storage or stacking of one
or more cargo containers.
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C. “Cargo container parking” shall mean a facility for the parking of a trailer, detached
from the tractor unit, on which one or more cargo containers may be loaded.
D. “Director” means the Director of Public Works, or his/her designee.
E. “Establishment” means to bring into existence (a new warehouse facility).
F. “Expansion” means:
1. Any increase of the total size of the floor area of any existing building;
2. Any expansion/intensification of truck yards, cargo container parking, and
cargo container storage;
3. Construction of any new structure on the premises of an existing business;
G. “Facility” means a temporary or permanent use of land or use of premises, a
building or structure, or part of a building or structure.
H. “Industrial wholesale” means an industrial facility consisting of the exchange of
large quantities of goods for future distribution and resale for financial or other
considerations.
I. “Modification” means making any changes, remodeling, or alterations to an
existing building or site that require permits. Modification shall include change in
tenant at an existing facility requiring a business license. A change in tenant means
any amendment to a lease agreement that extends the term of the lease for more
than three years, or a new lease agreement with a term longer than three years.
J. “Permit” means any City planning land use approvals, any new business license
tax permit (including the transfer of a business license from one owner to another),
and any building, grading, plumbing, electrical, or mechanical permit, whether the
approval or issuance is discretionary or ministerial.
K. “Portable storage rental facility” means operations that rent individual storage
containers to members of the public or businesses for the storage of a variety of
items.
L. “Truck” means all Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) vehicle classes
including Class 5 or higher.
M. “Truck yard” means a principal use of land for parking or storage of trucks in active
use with or without servicing or repairing of trucks as an incidental use thereto.
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N. “Truck terminal” means a principal use of land or building where there are dock
facilities for trucks, either partially enclosed or unenclosed, for the purposes of
transferring goods or breaking down and assembling tractor-trailer transport.
O. “Warehouse” means an industrial building used for the freight forwarding, deposit,
storage, safekeeping, transportation of goods, distribution facilities, logistics
services such as but not limited to material handling, packaging, inventory,
transportation, storage, warehousing, industrial wholesale, portable storage rental
facility, truck terminals, hazardous materials and/or hazardous waste facilities,
truck yards, cargo container storage and cargo container parking, manufacturing
uses with less than 50% of floor area devoted to manufacturing.
SECTION 4. Urgency Findings. In accordance with California Government Code
Section 65858 and Vernon City Charter Chapter 4.4, in order to protect the public health,
safety, and welfare, the City Council of the City of Vernon hereby finds, determines, and
declares that:
A. The City has experienced significant growth of large warehouses, distribution
facilities, and related businesses. These facilities can generate unique
environmental impacts on surrounding properties and the larger community,
including frequent truck traffic, noise impacts from on-site operations, emissions
and air quality issues, and maintenance impacts on City streets.
B. Government Code Section 65858 expressly authorizes the City Council, in order
to protect public health, safety, and welfare, to adopt an interim urgency ordinance
prohibiting a use that is in conflict with a contemplated general plan, specific plan,
or zoning proposal that the legislative body, planning commission, or planning
department is considering or studying or intends to study within a reasonable time,
provided that the urgency ordinance shall require a four-fifths (4/5) vote of the
legislative body for adoption, and shall be of no further force and effect 45 days
from its date of adoption, unless duly extended. Chapter 4.4 of the Vernon City
Charter also authorizes the City Council to adopt an emergency ordinance for the
immediate preservation of public safety, health, or peace.
C. This Ordinance is being adopted to allow the City sufficient time to review, study
and revise the City’s laws, rules, procedures, and fees related to warehouse and
related businesses in the City of Vernon. In light of the City’s exceptionally low
vacancy rate and continued growth of large warehouse and related facilities, the
City Council finds that the following adverse public safety, health, and welfare
impacts are of real concern:
a. Establishment, expansion, or modification of warehouse and related
businesses may create immediate irreversible and costly adverse impacts in
the community; to wit, street damage, noise, vibration, and pollution. These
impacts are already dire for the City and would worsen and become less
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manageable with every new warehouse facility that begins or expands its
operation in the City of Vernon. The City cannot afford to continue to impose
such impacts onto its budget and its citizens and cannot allow these impacts to
accumulate any further while the General Plan and Zoning Code are updated,
and Specific Plan or Plans are being developed.
b. It is now essential to determine the development capacity within the City where
such businesses are currently permitted, considering the capabilities of
infrastructure and public services.
c. Through analysis of the impacts currently imposed by the current amount of
truck traffic generated by warehouse and related facilities, traffic studies to
determine ways in which to minimize truck traffic impacts, and measures that
the City can take to mitigate or prevent impacts from logistics facilities
altogether.
d. Absent the adoption of this Ordinance, the establishment, expansion, or
modification of warehouse and related businesses could result in the negative
and harmful secondary effects identified above.
e. As a result of the negative and harmful secondary effects associated with the
establishment, expansion, or modification of warehouse and related
businesses, the current and immediate threat these businesses pose to the
public health, safety, and welfare, and the potential zoning conflicts that would
be created by such development, it is necessary to adopt a temporary, forty-
five (45) day moratorium on the establishment, expansion, or modification of
warehouse and related businesses in the City.
f. A moratorium is necessary in order to protect the City and its residents,
businesses and visitors from the potential health and safety impacts of logistics
businesses, including air quality, noise, traffic, parking, and other impacts, and
to preserve the quality of life and protect the health, safety, and welfare of the
surrounding communities.
g. A moratorium is immediately required to preserve the public health, safety, and
welfare and should be adopted immediately as an urgency ordinance, to make
certain that permits for warehouse and related businesses are issued only
under adequate regulations and consistent with the City’s future goals for
development and expansion. Imposition of a moratorium will allow the City
sufficient time to conclude the preparation of comprehensive studies and plans
for the regulation of such activities. The absence of this Ordinance would allow
the proliferation of such businesses and their undesirable secondary impacts,
and create a serious threat to the orderly and effective implementation of any
amendments to the General Plan and the Zoning Code, and Specific Plan or
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Plans being developed, as well as the vision for the City going forward,
contemplated by the City Council.
h. Truck trips generated by logistics facilities have direct impacts on the
community including traffic, air quality, noise, vibrations, and health impacts on
the community.
i. Truck traffic increases the maintenance costs of streets for the City. For
example, a 1999 study for the City of Irwindale concluded that one loaded
mining truck causes street damage equivalent to that caused by 10,000
automobiles. City of Irwindale Mining Reclamation Impact Study, prepared by
Greystone, March 1999, Vol. I, p. iii @ 2.a., and Vol. II., pp. 25-29. A loaded
mining truck weighs approximately 80,000 pounds, which is comparable to the
average weight of loaded 18-wheeler trucks that commonly traverse the City of
Vernon to and from warehouse facilities. The City intends to further research
this issue and determine the impacts of trucks with three axles or more.
j. Trucks likely affect air quality, as their emissions are many times those of
passenger vehicles, and thus are also likely to have concomitant health effects.
Diesel engines emit a complex mixture of air pollutants, including both gaseous
and solid material. The solid material in diesel exhaust is known as diesel
particulate matter (DPM). DPM is considered a subset of particulate matter less
than 2.5 microns in diameter (PM2.5). Most PM2.5 derives from combustion,
such as use of gasoline and diesel fuels by motor vehicles, DPM is most
concentrated adjacent to freeways and streets traveled by trucks. PM2.5 is the
size of ambient particulate matter air pollution most associated with adverse
health effects of the air pollutants that have ambient air quality standards.
These health effects include cardiovascular and respiratory hospitalizations,
and premature death.
D. Over the next few months, the City will update its General Plan and Zoning Code
and adopt a Specific Plan or Plans to update its goals and policies for the
development of the City. While the City recognizes the value of warehouse
facilities, the City must balance the interests of such businesses on the one hand,
and the well-being of the community, attraction of land uses that create high-paying
jobs, generate revenues to pay for road maintenance and other essential services,
and ensure that warehouse facilities mitigate their fair share of impacts on the City
and the surrounding community.
E. Because of the actual and potential detrimental impacts of warehouse and related
uses upon the City, which impacts may not be presently adequately addressed by
the City’s existing ordinances and zoning regulations, there is a need to impose a
temporary moratorium on the establishment, expansion, or modification of
warehouse uses, freight terminals, truck terminals, container storage, and
container parking uses in order to study and develop policy guidance and
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potentially implement changes to the City’s zoning regulations and General Plan
update.
F. The City Council further finds that the moratorium is a matter of local and Citywide
importance and is not directed towards any particular person or entity that seeks
to operate warehouse and related facilities.
SECTION 5. Moratorium.
A. Moratorium: Based on the findings set forth herein for the immediate preservation
of the public health, safety, and welfare, during the effective period of this
Ordinance, no application for permit will be accepted, no consideration of any
application for permit will be made, and no permit will be issued by the City for the
establishment, expansion, or modification of any logistics facilities within the City
until this Ordinance has expired or has been repealed according to applicable law.
Subject to the Exemptions set forth below, all processing of existing applications
for permits shall be suspended immediately.
B. Exemptions: This Ordinance shall not apply to the following:
1. The annual renewal of an existing business license, any permits necessary
for the routine maintenance of the buildings or sites, or any permits
necessary for repairs required due to an emergency or to protect the public
health, safety, and welfare shall not be considered issuance of a permit.
2. Tenant improvements for current tenants within an existing building,
provided the tenant improvements would not otherwise be considered an
expansion or modification of the facility.
3. Any new or renewed lease agreement.
4. The establishment, expansion, or modification of any warehouse or related
facilities with pending permits (which includes submittal of a site plan for
review) or that have already received full approvals and commenced
construction or incurred expenses for construction prior to this Ordinance.
SECTION 6. Review and Study. During the period of this Ordinance, the Director
of Public Works shall review and study the adverse impacts of and the benefits provided
by, warehouse and related facilities in the City, so as to quantify the concerns described
in Section 4, and shall recommend proposed revisions to the City’s laws, rules,
procedures, and fees related to these facilities, so as to enable the City to adequately and
appropriately balance the rights of existing property owners and future applicants who
wish to establish, expand, or modify logistics facilities, with the preservation of the health,
safety and welfare of the communities.
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SECTION 7. Written Report. Pursuant to Government Code Section 65858, staff
must prepare for consideration by the City Council a written report describing measures
taken to address the condition which led to the adoption of this urgency ordinance. The
report will be provided to the City Council so that it may be considered and issued no later
than ten (10) days prior to the expiration of this urgency ordinance.
SECTION 8. Authority. The City Council of the City of Vernon hereby adopts this
Ordinance as an interim urgency measure pursuant to Government Code Section 65858
and Chapter 4.4. of the Charter of the City of Vernon to protect the public health, safety,
and welfare, and is adopted and justified based on the findings of the City Council in
Recitals of this Ordinance; which are supported by substantial evidence in the record
associated with the City Council’s consideration hereof.
SECTION 9. The City Council of the City of Vernon hereby passes this Ordinance
by a four-fifths vote of the City Council. Accordingly, this urgency ordinance shall take
effect immediately upon adoption for a period of 45 days, at which time it will automatically
expire unless extended by the City Council as permitted under the Government Code.
SECTION 10. Any provision of the Vernon Municipal Code or appendices thereto
inconsistent with the provisions of this Ordinance, to the extent of such inconsistencies
and no further are repealed or modified to that extent necessary to affect the provisions
of this Ordinance.
SECTION 11. If any section, subsection, paragraph, sentence, clause, phrase, or
portion thereof, of this Ordinance is declared by a court of competent jurisdiction to be
unconstitutional or otherwise invalid, such decision shall not affect the validity of the
remaining portions of this Ordinance. The City Council hereby declares that it would have
adopted this Ordinance, and each section, subsection, paragraph, sentence, clause,
phrase, or portion thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections,
subsections, paragraphs, sentences, clauses, phrases, or portions thereof, be declared
invalid or unconstitutional. To this end, the provisions of this Ordinance are declared to
be severable.
SECTION 12. The City Clerk shall certify the adoption and publish this ordinance
as required by law.
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SECTION 13: This Ordinance shall go into effect and be in full force and effect
immediately upon adoption.
APPROVED AND ADOPTED this 21st day of June, 2022.
_______________________
LETICIA LOPEZ, Mayor
ATTEST:
LISA POPE, City Clerk
(seal)
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
______________________
ZAYNAH N. MOUSSA,
Interim City Attorney
I CERTIFY THAT THE FOREGOING ORDINANCE NO. 1283 was passed and adopted
by the City Council of the City of Vernon at the regular meeting on June 21, 2022 by the
following vote:
AYES: 5 Council Members: Davis, Merlo, Ybarra, Larios, Lopez
NOES: 0
ABSENT: 0
ABSTAIN: 0
________________________________
LISA POPE, City Clerk
(seal)
City Council Agenda Item Report
Submitted by: Daniel Wall
Submitting Department: Public Works
Meeting Date: June 21, 2022
SUBJECT
Moratorium on Warehouse Uses, Freight and Terminals, Container Storage and Parking
Recommendation:
A. Find that the proposed action is exempt under the California Environmental Quality Act
(CEQA) review, because it is general policy and procedure-making activity that is
unrelated to any specific project, which must undergo separate CEQA review, and that
will not result in direct physical changes or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical
changes in the environment, and therefore does not constitute a “project” as defined by
CEQA Guidelines Section 15378; and
B. Adopt Interim Urgency Ordinance No. 1283 establishing a 45-day temporary moratorium
on the establishment, expansion, or modification of warehouse uses, freight terminals,
truck terminals, container storage, and container parking in the City of Vernon.
Background:
In recent years, the proliferation of e-commerce and rising consumer expectations of rapid
shipping have contributed to a boom in warehouse development. With its ports, population
centers, and transportation network, California has been especially affected by this trend.
Warehouses and related businesses such as truck terminals, truck yards, and container
storage operations generate significant environmental impacts. As a result, the California
Attorney General’s Bureau of Environmental Justice has increased its scrutiny over warehouse
developments and the impacts associated with their operations and heavy fleet use.
Like the State, the City has experienced significant growth of large warehouses, distribution
facilities and related businesses. Such facilities consume large areas of land in Vernon with
little benefit to the City as they typically do not provide many jobs or generate sufficient utility
users tax, property tax, sales tax, or business license revenues to off-set their impact on the
City. As noted above, warehouses and related businesses can generate unique environmental
impacts on surrounding properties and the larger community, including frequent truck traffic,
noise impacts from on-site operations, emissions and air quality issues that impact public
health, and maintenance impacts on City streets.
Currently, the vacancy rate in the City is exceptionally low. This increases the value of
property which, in turn, encourages the greater intensity of use at warehouse facilities, which
increase the truck trips generated by these facilities. Additionally, advances in robotics and e-
commerce have reduced the number of people employed by these facilities. The proliferation
of these facilities presents several issues for the Community and the City including land use,
traffic and safety, environmental and health, and fiscal issues.
Land Use Issues
All of Vernon is zoned industrial. By their nature, warehouse and related uses tend to locate
on large parcels of land and in large industrial buildings. Similarly, truck yards, cargo container
parking, and cargo container storage take large areas of land. These uses take up land that
could otherwise be used for purposes that would generate jobs, and additional property tax
and utility users tax for the City.
Traffic and Safety Issues
Warehouse facilities generate significant truck traffic, and sometimes these facilities and/or the
trucks operate 24-hours-a-day. This truck traffic causes environmental issues including traffic
congestion, detrimental air quality, noise, and vibration. These trucks travel City streets to
reach their destinations and, because of their sheer size, pose unique and challenging traffic
issues such as:
Increased safety risk for smaller vehicles, pedestrians, and bicyclists
Damage to City property/facilities from collisions (reported and unreported); i.e. street
lights, traffic signal equipment, signs, trees, curbs, medians, etc.
Reduced levels of service on streets and at intersections
Pavement impacts
Environmental and Health Issues
Diesel engines emit a complex mixture of air pollutants, including both gaseous and solid
material. The solid material in diesel exhaust is known as diesel particulate matter (DPM).
DPM is considered a subset of particulate matter less than 2.5 microns in diameter (PM2.5).
Most PM2.5 derives from combustion, such as the use of gasoline and diesel fuels by motor
vehicles. DPM is most concentrated adjacent to freeways and streets traveled by trucks.
PM2.5 is the size of ambient particulate matter air pollution most associated with adverse
health effects of the air pollutants that have ambient air quality standards. These health effects
include cardiovascular and respiratory conditions.
Fiscal Issues
Warehouse and related businesses generate significantly lower utility users tax, property tax,
sales tax, and business license revenues, than other less truck intensive uses, while trucks
significantly impact the condition of the City's streets.
The City commissioned a Pavement Management Plan to obtain an inventory of pavement
conditions for the City’s entire street network, and to develop strategies for the maintenance of
the City’s streets including a budgetary analysis to determine the funding needs. The report
concluded the average rating for the City’s street network is a C-. Much of the reason for this
low grade is due to the load related (alligator cracking and heave) distress caused by trucks. It
is estimated that it will require total expenditures of between $20 to $25 million from the
General Fund to bring the street network up to an average B+ rating. Additionally, trucks
frequently damage other City infrastructure including power poles, catch basins and traffic
signals.
Over the coming months, the City will update its General Plan and Zoning Code, and adopt a
Specific Plan or Plans to update its goals and policies for the development of the City. While
the City recognizes the value of warehouse facilities, the City must balance the interests of
such businesses with the well-being of the community, attraction of land uses that create high-
paying jobs, generate revenues to pay for street maintenance and other essential services,
and ensure that warehouse facilities mitigate their fair share of impacts on the City and the
surrounding community. The moratorium will provide staff the additional time to obtain all of
the information necessary to analyze the issues and provide recommendations to the Council.
The following provides the most salient details of the proposed moratorium:
Businesses Subject To Moratorium
All warehouse and related facilities as defined below are subject to this moratorium. Once it is
determined a warehouse or related facility is subject to the moratorium, other provisions of the
moratorium must be applied to that facility.
“Warehouse” means an industrial building used for the freight forwarding, deposit, storage,
safekeeping, transportation of goods, distribution facilities, logistics services such as but not
limited to material handling, packaging, inventory, transportation, storage, warehousing,
industrial wholesale, portable storage rental facility, truck terminals, hazardous materials
and/or hazardous waste facilities, truck yards, cargo container storage and cargo container
parking, and manufacturing uses with less than 50% of floor area devoted to manufacturing.
Exemptions from the Moratorium
1. The annual renewal of an existing business license, any permits necessary for the
routine maintenance of the buildings or sites, or any permits necessary for repairs
required due to an emergency or to protect the public health, safety, and welfare shall
not be considered issuance of a permit.
2. Tenant improvements for current tenants within an existing building, provided the tenant
improvements would not otherwise be considered an expansion or modification of the
facility.
3. Any new or renewed lease agreement, provided that the term does not exceed 3 years.
4. The establishment, expansion, or modification of any warehouse or related facilities with
pending permits or that have already received full approvals and commenced
construction or incurred expenses for construction prior to this ordinance.
Activities Subject to the Moratorium
During the effective period of this ordinance, no application for permit will be accepted, no
consideration of any application for permit will be made, and no permit will be issued by the
City for the establishment, expansion, or modification of any warehouse or related facilities
within the City until this ordinance has expired or has been repealed according to applicable
law. Further, all processing of existing applications for permits shall be suspended
immediately.
Ordinance Adoption
Adoption of the proposed Interim Urgency Ordinance requires a favorable vote by a four-fifths
vote of the City Council. If adopted, the Ordinance shall take effect immediately upon adoption
for a period of 45 days, at which time it will automatically expire unless extended by the City
Council.
Fiscal Impact:
There is no fiscal impact associated with this report.
Attachments:
1. Ordinance No. 1283