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 6 Violation and administrative citations for the following types of violations: illegal storage, land use, zoning, property and landscape maintenance, unpermitted work, business license, and certificate of occupancy. These violations include issues of odors, dust, traffic, noise, vibrations, and other documented impacts. This activity demonstrates the City's direct involvement in overseeing these businesses to mitigate potential environmental and public health risks. Since June 2023, the TZC communities have experienced a marked increase in impacts stemming from the irreconcilable industrial and residential land use conflicts in the Logan and Lacy neighborhoods. Residents in the TZC have voiced and emailed complaints and public health concerns to City staff regarding emitted contaminants and zoning violations from industrial businesses in the neighborhoods. Concerns that range from air pollution and smoke, toxic release exposures, idling trucks on residential streets, lead exposure, illegal storage, unpermitted uses, loud noise at night, and other property maintenance pose an immediate public health threat that is straining public resources to continuously investigate and address these matters. Specifically, a fire incident at a crematory located in the neighborhood alarmed neighbors at 9:18 p.m. on August 29, 2023. Residents shared with City officials' video of high flames escaping the stack on the rooftop, screeching noise that continued nonstop for ten minutes, and what was described as a foul odor attributed to the fire. City staff followed up with external regulatory agencies issuing permits to operate this facility, and quickly, staff observed the limitations from regulatory agencies and their compartmentalized processes to investigate and act on enforcement measures. On August 9, 2024, the City received a complaint with photos of the same crematory in which the complainant observed bodies stored in a container outside the facility. A City code enforcement inspector issued an abatement notice that same day; the bodies and container were removed and the case was closed on August 13, 2024 by code enforcement staff. Other recent incidents include a large fire at an open- air industrial recycling facility at 1035 E. Fourth Street on March 23, 2025 that resulted in contaminated effluent from water used in fire -fighting efforts draining into local gutters. Since 2022, the City has enhanced community services by restructuring its Planning Division to contain a Neighborhood Initiatives and Environmental Services (NIES) section, which oversees, among other functions, environmental justice efforts in Santa Ana and regional coordination to address such issues. Staff encountered difficulty in achieving desired enforcement outcomes with external regulatory agencies such as South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD), California Department of Consumer Affairs Cemetery and Funeral Bureau (CFB), and Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA) with several heavy industrial business operators in the TZC. This is supported through internal correspondence and phone conversations with staff from these agencies to understand their investigation and compliance processes. To address issues of industrial operators, including recycling and waste processing facilities near schools and residential areas, the City adopted new regulations such as a Noxious Uses Ordinance (Ordinance No. NS- 3044, adopted June 20, 2023) to include a notification requirement to the City by the property owner to obtain a permit from a regulatory public agency; a requirement of a 1,000 linear foot distance buffer measured from the outermost boundary of the subject property; and a conditional use permit requirement when businesses require a permit