Is San Diego building an Amazon corporate city from scratch?
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Warehouses and other industrial facilities are popping up in Otay Mesa at a staggering rate, not least in the form of a massive new 3.4 million square foot Amazon fulfillment center.
The expansion is driven by international trade trends that have encouraged companies to relocate their import-export facilities from Asia to Mexico, where goods are then shipped to the United States. Amazon’s presence in the region, for example, includes a sister facility in Tijuana.
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Government officials see the situation as an opportunity not only to add jobs, but also to address the housing affordability crisis in the region. Over the past few years, they’ve partnered with real estate developers to open the door in Otay Mesa to thousands of new homes and apartments.
However, those who have fought for those affected by warehouse clusters elsewhere – notably in San Bernardino and Riverside counties – point out that residents often suffer from noise and poor air quality as a parade of spitting freight trucks pollution in parks, schools and neighborhoods.
They wonder if a similar dynamic will play out here, albeit in reverse. Rather than warehouses descending on communities, housing would be abandoned in an area undergoing rapid industrialization.
âIt seems like a corporate city from scratch. I think it’s somewhat unprecedented in California, âsaid Sara Clark, environmental lawyer at Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger. She recently helped ink a $ 47 billion settlement on the future Global Logistics Center in the Moreno Valley, requiring investment in everything from the electrification of trucks to domestic air filters.
Elected leaders did not demand such measures for new businesses in Otay Mesa. Rather, they say a $ 1 billion border crossing, which could open as early as 2024, will reduce pollution from idling trucks.
âThis is one of the last green spaces in the city of San Diego, and we have a major housing crisis, so we absolutely have to build,â said Vivian Moreno, board member for San Diego including District 8 includes western Otay Mesa. “The hope is that these trucks will go straight onto a highway.”
Although the new crossing helps reduce some of the pollution, truck traffic across the border is expected to increase. Currently, around 2 million commercial vehicles pass through the Otay Mesa port of entry each year, according to Caltrans. This number is now expected to increase by up to 5% per year for the foreseeable future.
San Diego County Supervisor Nora Vargas, whose District 1 includes the eastern part of Otay Mesa, declined a request for an interview to discuss the dangers of citing housing near industrial facilities. She said in an email that she is dedicated to improving the region’s already poor air quality.
âFor many years, border communities have been disproportionately affected by toxic emissions, and clean air is one of my priorities for this region,â wrote the resident of Chula Vista. âI am closely monitoring the impact of new infrastructure and future developments on these families.
Vargas and the San Diego County Board of Directors have plans to build homes in the area, housing everything from the Otay landfill to a myriad of new business developments, such as the $ 100 million industrial park and 50 acres nicknamed Landmark in Otay.
Specifically, the county has rezoned a large strip of land for more than 3,150 new multi-family and single-family homes within blocks of Amazon’s new facility on Otay Mesa Road. The development site, called Otay 250 Route du Soleil, is envisioned as a mix of heavy industrial buildings and apartment buildings with storefronts on the ground floor.
The site, still a simple grassy mesa, is surrounded by many other sources of air, noise and light pollution. Immediately to the west is Highway 125 and another large warehouse project currently under construction called California Crossings. To the south is a natural gas-fired power plant called the Wildflower Larkspur Energy Facility. To the north is the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Institution. The new homes would also be in the flight path of Brown Field Municipal Airport, located directly across the highway.
The developer of the housing project, Sunroad Enterprises, did not return a request for comment. But in 2018, project manager Uri Feldman told the county planning commission that his company’s request to rezone the land for the houses was a direct response to the desire of businesses looking to locate in the area.
âWe had conversations with the House [of Commerce] and others who are involved in the job creation sector, and their response is that in order to get high value jobs and better paying jobs, we have to allow people to live a little closer â, a- he told the panel. âOtherwise, companies don’t want to go and they don’t create jobs.
Vargas’ team said the county supervisor learned that Amazon was moving to the area earlier this year.
But Janet Gutiérrez, who lives across from the new warehouse, said she has known for several years that the retail giant is planning to move into the neighborhood. His family have sold their 60-acre property to the company and plan to move in November.
âI don’t want to live here anymore,â said Gutiérrez, who has lived in the area with her husband and four children. âTwo, three years ago living here was totally different, calm and relaxed.
“Now it’s dangerous to go out,” she added. âThe trucks are going too fast. It is stronger. Sometimes they work with the helicopter and all the houses are shaking.
Meanwhile, the city of San Diego has approved a zoning plan for 4,485 homes just south of State Route 905 at the west end of Otay Mesa. And the developer Pardee Homes is push a similar plan nearby for 5,130 additional residential units.
The Environmental Health Coalition, which has long fought for low-income communities of color plagued by air pollution, such as Barrio Logan and National City, has denounced the city plan. The advocacy group said unequivocally in a public comment letter that “people and toxics don’t mix.”
However, so far the environmental justice group has found itself overwhelmed.
“These developments create an incompatible land use that exposes residents to pollution from heavy trucks and cars,” Diane Takvorian, executive director of the coalition, wrote in an email. âWe just don’t have the bandwidth to fight all the battles. “
Housing appears to be a growing issue for Amazon. The company recently launched a $ 2 billion fund create or at least preserve more than 20,000 affordable housing units. The company, currently valued at $ 1.7 trillion, provides money to developers to build specifically in areas where it operates.
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