Item 22 - Transit Zoning Code Amendments Resolution

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ZOA No. 2024-02 & AA No. 2024-03 (Transit Zoning Code Amendments) April 1, 2025 Page 4 application of the industrial overlay zones within the TZC, the implementation of the new General Plan land use designations immediately resulted in zoning inconsistencies and land use conflicts with the new General Plan. Since establishment of the TZC, and specifically in the Logan and Lacy neighborhoods, industrial uses have remained, changed ownership, undergone expansions or intensifications, and have continued to create numerous land use conflicts and disturbances that affect surrounding residential communities. Specifically, in the Logan neighborhood alone, these land uses create quality of life, health and safety, and other trespass issues for residential properties that often directly abut these industrial land uses. These issues include odors, dust, traffic, noise, vibrations, and other documented impacts that have taken place for nearly a decade and a half despite the change to the new General Plan land use designations. Historically Disadvantaged Communities and Senate Bill (SB 1000 Prior to the adoption of the TZC, the City permitted industrial uses within the Logan and Lacy neighborhoods in close proximity to sensitive land uses such as residences and schools. The Logan neighborhood represents one of Orange County's oldest barrios, established as early as 1886, and was one of the few areas where Mexicans and those of Mexican descent could purchase land due to racially restrictive covenants during the first half of the 20t" century. Further, as a neighborhood, the area was established before the modern practice of separating or regulating impactful land uses, also known as zoning. The Logan neighborhood itself was largely settled by 1900, before the practice of zoning was enshrined by Village of Euclid v. Ambler Realty Co. in 1926. By that time, the neighborhood contained a mix of residential, industrial, commercial, and related land uses, in some cases side -by -side, with issues further exacerbated by rail lines, fuel storage depots, and the construction of the Santa Ana Freeway (1-5) between 1947 and 1956. Comprehensive data analysis and mapping tools generated by the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) and California Environmental Protection Agency (CaIEPA), the Center for Diseases Control/Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (CDC/ATSDR), the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and California Healthy Places Index (HPI) reveal concerning information regarding environmental conditions impacting residents in the Logan and Lacy neighborhoods. Recent CalEnviroScreen 4.0 data confirms that these neighborhoods rank at 90% or above among California's most pollution -burdened communities, with Environmental Justice (EJ) maps showing higher exposure to Particulate Matter (PM) 2.5, Air Toxics Cancer Risk, Hazardous Waste Proximity, Diesel Particulate Matter, and Toxic Releases to Air. This information is included as Exhibit 4 to this staff report. These multiple sources of environmental exposure and pollution burden communities of color, including the Logan and Lacy neighborhoods, present an alarming set of challenges that affect residents' quality of life and life expectancy with continued heavy industrial uses nearby.