Ordinance No. 1286URGENCY ORDINANCE NO. 1286
AN URGENCY ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
VERNON, PURSUANT TO GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 65858,
EXTENDING A MORATORIUM ON THE ESTABLISHMENT, EXPANSION,
OR MODIFICATION OF WAREHOUSE USES, FREIGHT TERMINALS,
TRUCK TERMINALS, CONTAINER STORAGE, AND CONTAINER
PARKING WITHIN THE CITY OF VERNON FOR AN ADDITIONAL TEN
10) MONTHS AND FIFTEEN (15) DAYS, OR UNTIL CITY COUNCIL’S
ADOPTION OF AN ORDINANCE ADDRESSING THE MORATORIUM
ISSUES, WHICHEVER OCCURS FIRST
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. Government Code Section 65858 provides that a city legislative body may, in order
to protect public safety, health and welfare, adopt as an urgency measure an
interim ordinance prohibiting any uses that may conflict with a contemplated
general plan, specific plan, or zoning proposal that the legislative body is
considering or studying or intends to study within a reasonable time, provided such
urgency measures are adopted by four-fifths vote of the legislative body and
include findings that there is a current and immediate threat to the public health,
safety, or welfare, and that the approval of additional entitlements would result in
that threat to public health, safety, or welfare.
D. On June 21, 2022, pursuant to the authority conferred upon the City Council by
Government Code Section 65858, the City Council adopted Interim Urgency
Ordinance No. 1283 by a unanimous vote, establishing a 45-day moratorium on
the establishment, expansion, or modification of warehouse uses, freight
terminals, truck terminals, container storage, and container parking within the City
of Vernon (Moratorium) and declaring the urgency thereof. The City Council also
adopted Interim Urgency Ordinance No. 1283 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.
E. The Moratorium will expire on August 5, 2022, unless extended pursuant to
Government Code Section 65858, which authorizes the City Council, after notice
pursuant to Government Code Section 65090 and a public hearing, to adopt an
Ordinance No. 1286
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ordinance extending the moratorium for ten (10) months and fifteen (15) days,
upon approval by a four-fifths vote, and upon making the same findings required
for initial adoption of the Moratorium.
F. Government Code Section 65858(d) requires the City Council, at least ten days
prior to expiration of the Moratorium or any extension thereof, to issue a written
report describing the measures taken to alleviate the condition which led to the
adoption of the Moratorium.
G. In accordance with Government Code Section 65858(d), on July 19, 2022, the City
Council approved and issued a ten-day report, describing the measures being
taken to alleviate the conditions which led to the adoption of the Moratorium.
H. The City intends to update the Vernon Municipal Code to address the potential
health, safety, and welfare impacts of warehouse uses, freight terminals, truck
terminals, container storage, and container parking, which are not addressed by
the City’s current zoning regulations.
I. Pursuant to Government Code Section 65858, the City Council wishes to extend
the Moratorium for a period of ten (10) months and fifteen (15) days, or until the
effective date of an ordinance adopted by City Council addressing the issues
related to the establishment, expansion, or modification of warehouse uses, freight
terminals, truck terminals, container storage, and container parking, whichever
occurs first.
J. At a duly noticed public hearing, testimony evidence was heard and presented
from all persons protesting the same and from members of City staff, and the City
Council has reviewed, analyzed, considered, and studied all oral and written
testimony and evidence presented at such public hearing.
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. The City Council of the City of Vernon hereby extends Interim
Urgency Ordinance No. 1283 and the moratorium on any establishment, expansion, or
modification of warehouse uses, freight terminals, truck terminals, container storage, and
container parking within the City of Vernon, for an additional ten (10) months and fifteen
15) days beyond its original expiration date, or until the effective date of an ordinance
adopted by City Council addressing the issues related to the establishment, expansion,
or modification of warehouse uses, freight terminals, truck terminals, container storage,
and container parking, whichever occurs first.
Ordinance No. 1286
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SECTION 4. Urgency Findings. California Government Code Section 65858
authorizes the City Council, after notice pursuant to Government Code Section 65090
and a public hearing, to adopt an ordinance extending the Moratorium for ten (10) months
and fifteen (15) days, upon approval by a four-fifths vote, and upon making the same
findings required for initial adoption of the Moratorium. In accordance with 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. The Moratorium is being temporarily extended 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:
1. 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
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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
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5. 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
extension of the Moratorium on the establishment, expansion, or modification
of warehouse and related businesses in the City.
6. The 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.
7. The Moratorium is immediately required to preserve the public health, safety,
and welfare and should be extended 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. Temporary extension of the 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 Plans being developed, as well as the vision for the City
going forward, contemplated by the City Council.
8. Truck trips generated by logistics facilities have direct impacts on the
community including traffic, air quality, noise, vibrations, and health impacts on
the community.
9. 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.
10. 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
Ordinance No. 1286
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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.
C. 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.
D. 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 temporarily
extend the 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
potentially implement changes to the City’s zoning regulations and General Plan
update.
E. 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. Extension of 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.
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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 along with other City staff shall continue to 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.
SECTION 7. Duration of Ordinance. The Moratorium is hereby extended for an
additional ten (10) months and fifteen (15) days beyond its original expiration date, such
that the Moratorium will now expire on June 20, 2023, or until the effective date of an
ordinance adopted by City Council addressing the issues related to the establishment,
expansion, or modification of warehouse uses, freight terminals, truck terminals, container
storage, and container parking, whichever occurs first. Thereafter, this Moratorium shall
be of no further force and effect unless, after a duly noticed public hearing, the City
Council further extends the Moratorium for an additional period of time pursuant to
Government Code Section 65858.
SECTION 8. City Action. During the period of this Moratorium extension, the
Director of Public Works or designee along with other City staff shall: (1) review and
consider options for the regulation of warehouse uses, freight terminals, truck terminals,
container storage, and container parking within the City of Vernon, and (2) shall issue a
written report describing the measures which the City has taken to address the conditions
which led to the adoption of this Ordinance to the City Council at least ten (10) days prior
to the expiration of this Moratorium, or any extension thereof, and such report shall be
made available to the public.
Ordinance No. 1286
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SECTION 9. 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 10. 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 11. The City Clerk shall certify the adoption and publish this ordinance
as required by law.
SECTION 12. This Ordinance shall go into effect immediately upon adoption by
4/5 vote and shall be of no further force and effect ten (10) months and fifteen (15) days
beyond its original expiration date, or until the effective date of an ordinance adopted by
City Council addressing the issues related to the establishment, expansion, or
modification of warehouse uses, freight terminals, truck terminals, container storage, and
container parking, whichever occurs first. Thereafter, this Moratorium shall be of no
further force and effect unless, after a duly noticed public hearing, the City Council further
extends the Moratorium for an additional period of time pursuant to Government Code
Section 65858.
APPROVED AND ADOPTED this 2nd day of August, 2022.
LETICIA LOPEZ, Mayor
ATTEST:
LISA POPE, City Clerk
seal)
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
ZAYNAH N. MOUSSA, City Attorney
Ordinance No. 1286
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I CERTIFY THAT THE FOREGOING ORDINANCE NO. 1286 was passed and adopted
by the City Council of the City of Vernon at the regular meeting on August 2, 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: August 2, 2022
SUBJECT
Urgency Ordinance No. 1286 Extending Interim Urgency Ordinance No. 1283 - Warehouse
Moratorium
Recommendation:
A. Find that the proposed action is exempt from 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 Urgency Ordinance No. 1286, pursuant to Government Code Section 65858,
extending a moratorium on the establishment, expansion, or modification of warehouse
uses, freight terminals, truck terminals, container storage, and container parking within
the City of Vernon for an additional ten (10) months and fifteen (15) days, or until City
Council's adoption of an ordinance addressing the moratorium issues, whichever occurs
first.
Background:
On June 21, 2022, pursuant to Government Code Section 65858, the City Council adopted
Ordinance No. 1283, a 45-day urgency moratorium ordinance. Ordinance No. 1283 was
adopted to protect the public health, safety, and welfare by prohibiting the establishment,
expansion, or modification of warehouse uses, freight terminals, truck terminals, container
storage, and container parking in the City of Vernon.
Subsequently, pursuant to Government Code Section 65858(d) which requires that at least
10-days prior to the expiration of a 45-day urgency ordinance the City issue a written report
describing the measures taken to alleviate the conditions which led to the adoption of the
moratorium, staff provided Council with a report at its July 19, 2022 City Council meeting
attachment x). The report described staff's engagement with the business community and its
commencement of the process to amend Chapter 17 (Zoning Code) of the Vernon Municipal
Code (VMC).
Staff is prepared to present a draft ordinance pertaining to warehouse use to City Council for
first reading at its August 2, 2022 meeting. The permanent ordinance would change new
warehouse uses on lots encompassing 150,000 square feet or more from allowance by right
to approval through approval of a development agreement by the City Council.
NEED TO EXTEND THE MORATORIUM
The urgency moratorium (authorized by Urgency Ordinance No. 1283) was immediately
required to preserve public health, safety, and welfare. It is recommended that proposed
Ordinance No. 1286 be adopted to immediately extend the moratorium 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. Temporary
extension of the 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 Plans being
developed, as well as the vision for the City going forward, contemplated by the City Council.
It is proposed that the moratorium be extended for an additional ten (10) months and fifteen
15) days beyond its original expiration date, such that the Moratorium will now expire on June
20, 2023, or until the effective date of an ordinance adopted by City Council addressing the
issues related to the establishment, expansion, or modification of warehouse uses, freight
terminals, truck terminals, container storage, and container parking, whichever occurs first.
Although amendments to the Zoning Code are being proposed at the August 2, 2022 Council
meeting via the first reading of Ordinance No. 1287, adoption will follow a second reading at a
subsequent Council meeting. Even if approved by the City Council in successive meetings, the
proposed permanent ordinance would not take effect prior to the 45-day warehouse
moratorium expires on August 5, 2022.
Under Government Code Section 65858(a), the City Council may extend the urgency
ordinance and moratorium for an additional 10 months and 15 days, and subsequently for one
year, for a total of two years. Due to noticing, public hearing and procedural requirements for
the adoption of ordinance noted above, staff recommends that Ordinance No. 1283 be
extended to remain in place until the permanent zoning change takes effect.
Pursuant to Vernon Municipal Code Section 17.18.030 and Government Code Section 65091,
on July 21, 2022, the public hearing notice was posted at City Hall, and published in the
Huntington Park Bulletin (Attachment 1).
Fiscal Impact:
There is no fiscal impact associated with this report.
Attachments:
2. Adopted Ordinance No. 1283 - Interim Urgency Ordinance Warehouse Moratorium
3. Notice of Public Hearing
INTERIM 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.
Ordinance No. 1283
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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.
Ordinance No. 1283
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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
Ordinance No. 1283
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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
Ordinance No. 1283
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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
Ordinance No. 1283
Page 6 of 8
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.
Ordinance No. 1283
Page 7 of 8
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.
Ordinance No. 1283
Page 8 of 8
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)
CALIFORNIA NEWSPAPER SERVICE BUREAU
PRE#
D A I L Y J O U R N A L C O R P O R A T I O N
To the right is a copy of the notice you sent to us for publication in the
HUNTINGTON PARK BULLETIN. Please read this notice carefully and call us
with any corrections. The Proof of Publication will be filed with the County
Clerk, if required, and mailed to you after the last date below. Publication
date(s) for this notice is (are):
Mailing Address : 915 E FIRST ST, LOS ANGELES, CA 90012
Telephone (800) 788-7840 / Fax (800) 464-2839
Visit us @ www.LegalAdstore.com
LISA POPE
CITY OF VERNON CITY CLERK
4305 SANTA FE AVE
VERNON, CA 90058
HRG NOTICE OF HEARING
Notice of Public Hearing - Time Extension of Moratorium on Warehouse
07/21/2022
Notice Type:
Ad Description
COPY OF NOTICE
3606896
A000006070784!
An invoice will be sent after the last date of publication. If you prepaid this
order in full, you will not receive an invoice.
NOTICE OF CITY COUNCIL PUBLIC HEARING
The City Council of the City of Vernon will
conduct a public hearing,which you may attend,
at Vernon City Hall,City Council Chamber,4305
Santa Fe Avenue,Vernon,CA 90058,or via
Zoom Webinar at
http://www.cityofvernon.org/webinar-cc,in
accordance with Assembly Bill 361,on August 2,
2022 at 9:00 a.m.(or as soon thereafter as the
matter can be heard),to:
Consider adoption of an ordinance extending the
45-day temporary moratorium on warehouse and
related uses adopted by Interim Urgency
Ordinance No.1283
All relevant documents will be available for public
review on the City's website once the agenda for
the meeting is posted or from the City Clerk at
CityClerk@cityofvernon.org or (323)583-8811
ext.546.All interested persons will be given an
opportunity to comment on the above-referenced
items during the public hearing.In addition,
written comment or questions may be submitted
prior to the hearing as set forth below.Written
Testimony or questions must be received prior to
9:00 a.m.on the date of the hearing.
Please send your comments or questions to:
Daniel Wall,Director of Public Works
City of Vernon
4305 Santa Fe Avenue,Vernon,CA 90058
323)583-8811 ext.305
Email:Dwall@cityofvernon.org
If you challenge the adoption of said ordinance or
any provision thereof in court,you may be limited
to raising only those issues you or someone else
raised at the hearing described in this notice or in
written correspondence delivered to the City of
Vernon at,or prior to,the meeting.
In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities
Act (ADA),if you need special assistance to
participate in the meeting,please contact the
Office of the City Clerk at (323)583-8811 ext.
546.
The hearing may be continued,adjourned,or
cancelled and rescheduled to a stated time and
place without further notice of a public hearing.
Dated:July 18,2022
s/_
Lisa Pope,City Clerk
7/21/22
PRE-3606896#
HUNTINGTON PARK BULLETIN
CALIFORNIA NEWSPAPER SERVICE BUREAU
PRE#
D A I L Y J O U R N A L C O R P O R A T I O N
To the right is a copy of the notice you sent to us for publication in the
HUNTINGTON PARK BULLETIN. Please read this notice carefully and call us
with any corrections. The Proof of Publication will be filed with the County
Clerk, if required, and mailed to you after the last date below. Publication
date(s) for this notice is (are):
Mailing Address : 915 E FIRST ST, LOS ANGELES, CA 90012
Telephone (800) 788-7840 / Fax (800) 464-2839
Visit us @ www.LegalAdstore.com
LISA POPE
CITY OF VERNON CITY CLERK
4305 SANTA FE AVE
VERNON, CA 90058
ORD ORDINANCE PUBLICATION
Ordinance 1286 - Adoption Summary
08/11/2022
Notice Type:
Ad Description
COPY OF NOTICE
3612273
!A000006083389!
An invoice will be sent after the last date of publication. If you prepaid this
order in full, you will not receive an invoice.
ADOPTION OF URGENCY ORDINANCE NO.
1286
Urgency Ordinance No.1286 extends a
moratorium on the establishment,expansion,or
modification of warehouse uses,freight terminals,
truck terminals,container storage,and container
parking within the City of Vernon for an additional
ten (10)months and fifteen (15)days,or until City
Council's adoption of an ordinance addressing
the moratorium issues,whichever occurs first.
Urgency Ordinance No.1286 was adopted by the
Vernon City Council at a regular meeting on
August 2,2022,by the following vote:
AYES:Davis,Merlo,Ybarra,Larios,Lopez
NOES:None
ABSENT:None
ABSTAIN:None
The full text of Urgency Ordinance No.1286 is on
file in the City Clerk Department and accessible
on the City's website at www.cityofvernon.org.
8/11/22
PRE-3612273#
HUNTINGTON PARK BULLETIN