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City of Menifee
Northern Gateway Logistics Center Project
Comments and Responses
Comment Response
Appeal Letter A: Golden State Environmental Justice Alliance Comments A-1: SUBJECT: Appeal to the Menifee City Council regarding a decision of the Menifee Planning Commission, during the Planning Commission Meeting of May 14, 2025. Specifically, the Certification of the Environmental Impact Report for Plot Plan No. PLN 23-0040.
PROJECT NAME: Northern Gateway Logistics Center - SCH 2021110379 APPELLANT: Golden State Environmental Justice Alliance
PURPOSE OF APPEAL
This appeal seeks to reverse the entire decision of the Planning Commission's decision on May 14, 2025, approving the Northern Gateway Logistics Center.
JUSTIFICATIONS FOR APPEAL AND REJECTION OF PROJECT
Golden State Environmental Justice Alliance ("Appellant") presented multiple arguments in our comment letter dated July 17, 2024, addressing the flaws of the EIR (see attached). Additionally, comments sent to the Planning Commission on May 11, 2025, addressed the Commission's duty to adequately address the environmental, social, and economic justice burden placed on the City of Menifee residents. The Planning Commission should have requested a new EIR be prepared for this project, due to the deficiencies of the EIR and continued health, air quality, ozone, pollution and traffic impacts the citizenry of Menifee will suffer which will include residents of cities and the county upstream and downstream of the project based on our comment letters dated July 17, 2024 and May11, 2025 which were similar issues also addressed by the City of Perris in their comments.
Response A-1: This comment introduces the Appellant’ s purpose of appeal and a request for a new EIR to be prepared due to alleged deficiencies in the EIR’s environmental, social, and economic justice analyses. Responses have been prepared to address the Appellant’ s comments.
A-2: Our July 17, 2024, comment letter highlighted that the proposed Project may contribute to disproportionate health risks that community members within the immediate area already face. This topic is underscored by the intent of Senate Bill ("SB") 1000 and other guidelines by the California Response A-2: Refer to Response A-5, below.
Exhibit A
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City of Menifee
Northern Gateway Logistics Center Project
Comments and Responses
Department of Justice ("CA DOJ"). The applicability and intent of SB 1000, which goes beyond funding allocations and mandates that environmental justice be integrated into local land use planning.
A-3: CA DOJ guidelines further clarify that cumulative impacts of greenhouse gas emissions and air pollutants from warehouses should be assessed during environmental review, particularly where disadvantaged communities are affected. With the City of Perris be ing a SB535 Designated Disadvantaged Community, which is located upstream of the Project, it would have been prudent and neighborly to have considered the effects of this Project on its adjacent neighbor.
Response A-3: Consistent with CEQA Guidelines Section 15130, cumulative air quality and GHG impacts were analyzed in the EIR and were found to be less than significant. Refer to pages 4.2 -36 and 37 for cumulative air quality impacts and page 4.7-27 for cumulative GHG impacts.
A-4: To accurately assess the Project's impact on surrounding communities, both existing and anticipated warehouse developments should be considered during the environmental review process. We therefore maintain that a revised EIR should be prepared in accordance with SB 1000 and CA DOJ guidance, to incorporate environmental justice principles and provide a cumulative impact analysis of the Project's contribution to local health risks.
Response A-4: SB 1000 applies to General Plans not individual projects. As stated in the California Office of the Attorney General’s Best Practices for Implementing SB 1000, 1 "The law requires local governments with disadvantaged communities in their planning areas to develop environmental justice policies as part of their general plans ." The Project does not include updating the City’s General Plan, therefore SB 1000 would not be applicable to the Project. Regardless, the Project is not located within a SB535 Designated Disadvantaged Community. In addition, the repeated general references to CA DOJ guidelines are unclear, the commenter does not specify what document/rules/regulations they are referring to, as it is the City’s position that the Project complies with all relevant laws and regulations.
1 https://oag.ca.gov/system/files/media/sb-1000-best-practices-en.pdf 6/25/2025 Page 3
City of Menifee
Northern Gateway Logistics Center Project
Comments and Responses
A-5: Based on data from Pomona Pitzer's Robert Redford Conservancy - Warehouse City database below. The City of Menifee already has over 19,000.000 Sq. Ft. of approved, existing, in review or vacant space in its warehouse inventory. The projected Daily Truck Trips withi n Menifee's inventory are forecast at 12,000 per the Warehouse City database. The Census Tract where this warehouse is proposed already suffers from a traffic burden 74% higher than other Census Tracts within California based on the Cal Enviro Screening 4. 0 reflected on Pg. 3. The Cal Enviro Screening also reflects the expanded burdens the Census Tract already encounters versus the rest of the state.
Response A -5: The commenter begins by referencing a warehouse database and stating that the City has 19,300,000 square feet of warehouse (existing or approved) and forecasts that they will generate 12,000 daily truck trips. However, discussing daily trips without providing an average trip length can be misleading as a single truck making multiple deliveries on a single block would generate multiple trips, one for each stop.
The commenter continues by saying that the census tract the project is located in has a 74 percent higher traffic burden than other census tracts in California according to CalEnviroScreen. According to OEHHA, 2 the traffic burden score in CalEnviroScreen 4.0 is calculated by dividing the traffic volume by the total road length in the census tract for the year 2017.
The census tract in question is 6065042731 and has a population of 8,161; however, only a small portion of the census tract is located within Menifee (4.7 percent). Therefore, the majority of the traffic burden within the census tract is generated by the City of Perris, to the north. As a result, the argument that truck trips generated by warehouses in the City of Menifee are responsible for the traffic burden in census tract 6065042731 is incorrect.
The commenter also includes a table of results from CalEnviroScreen which includes exposures, environmental effects, sensitive populations, and socioeconomic factors. However, the list of 21 scores was edited to only include negative results. Note that the commenter left out Pollution Burden Percentile, 45 percent, which represents the potential exposures to pollutants and adverse environmental conditions, and Diesel Particulate Matter, 22 percent, which is directly associated with diesel trucks. As
2 https://oehha.ca.gov/calenviroscreen/indicator/traffic-impacts
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Northern Gateway Logistics Center Project
Comments and Responses
discussed previously, the City of Menifee only has jurisdiction over a small portion of census tract 6065042731 and cannot address all the impacts experienced by population of that census tract; however, the Project’s air quality and GHG impacts have been found to be less than significant.
A-6: The Planning Commission had a duty to adequately address the environmental, social, and economic burden placed on the City of Menifee residents, specifically Census Tract 6065042731 and the other community members upstream and downstream of the project such as your neighbor the City of Perris, which is a SB 535 Disadvantaged Community. This City of Perris SB 535 community located north of the project is illustrated with the Cal Enviro Screening on page 4. The Planning Commission should have requested a new EIR be prepared for this project, due to the deficiencies of the EIR and continued health, exposures, socioeconomic factors and Response A -6: The Draft EIR analyzed environmental impacts, including cumulative impacts, as required by CEQA Guidelines Section 15130 and determined that impacts were less than significant. As a result, impacts to Menifee residents and neighboring Perris residents within Census Tract 6065042731 associated with the Project would also be less than significant.
CEQA Guidelines Section 15131 Economic and Social Effects states that economic and social information may be included in an EIR or may be presented in whatever form the agency desires, therefore it is not required for an EIR to analyze these factors. In ad dition, CEQA Guidelines Section
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City of Menifee
Northern Gateway Logistics Center Project
Comments and Responses
environmental effects the citizenry of Menifee already suffers and will continue to suffer, based on our comment letter dated July 17, 2024. 15131(a) states that economic or social effects of a project shall not be treated as significant effects on the environment.
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City of Menifee
Northern Gateway Logistics Center Project
Comments and Responses
A-7: Response A -7: The commenter includes a table of results from CalEnviroScreen for Census Tract 6065042901 which is identified as a SB 535 Disadvantaged Community. However, the perimeter of this census tract is approximately 5,000 feet northwest of the Project site and no portion of the census tract is within the City of Menifee. SB 535 does not include project -specific requirements or prohibit developments in proximity to the designated communities. As a result, the City has no jurisdiction over this census tract.
A-8: With the Planning Commission's decision to certify the project FEIR, on May 14, 2025. GSEJA believes the Planning Commission did not fulfill its duty to adequately investigate nor mitigate the project. Further, under CEQA, the city must "Take all action necessary to provide the people of this state with Response A -8: The City respectfully disagrees with the commentor.
GSEJA’s opinion that the City of Menifee Planning Commission did not adequately investigate or mitigate the impacts of this Project is noted.
CEQA does not require adoption of every imaginable mitigation measure.
CEQA’s requirement applies only to feasible mitigation that will
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Northern Gateway Logistics Center Project
Comments and Responses
clean air and water, enjoyment of aesthetic, natural, scenic, and historic environmental qualities, and freedom from excessive noise." “substantially lessen” a project’s significant effects (Public Resources Code Section 21002). As explained by one court: A lead agency's “duty to condition project approval on incorporation of feasible mitigation measures only exists when such measures wou ld [avoid or] ‘substantially lessen’ a significant environmental effect.” (San Franciscans for Reasonable Growth v. City and County of San Francisco (1989) 209 Cal.App.3d 1502, 1519.) “Thus, the agency need not, under CEQA, adopt every nickel and dime miti gation scheme brought to its attention or proposed in the project EIR.” (Ibid.) Rather, an EIR should focus on mitigation measures that are feasible, practical, and effective (Napa Citizens for Honest Government v. Napa County Board of Supervisors (2001) 91 Cal.App.4th 342, 365.). As disclosed in the EIR and supported by substantial evidence in the record, the Project’s EIR includes all feasible mitigation measures that are capable of substantially reducing the Project’s environmental impacts and therefore, the City of Menifee Planning Commission’s approval considered these factors. Lastly, GSEJA fails to provide any evidence supporting their claim that the Project’s EIR did not sufficiently analyze all environmental impacts, per Appendix G Environmental Checklist Form, to the CEQA Guidelines.
A-9: The importance of a healthy environment for all of California's residents is reflected in CEQA's purpose.
In passing CEQA, the Legislature determined:
CEQA's Purposes
• "The maintenance of a quality environment for the people of this state now and in the future is a matter of statewide concern." (Pub. Res. Code, § 21000, subd. (a).)
Response A-9: Comment noted.
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City of Menifee
Northern Gateway Logistics Center Project
Comments and Responses
• We must "identify any critical thresholds for the health and safety of the people of the state and take all coordinated actions necessary to prevent such thresholds from being reached." (Id. At subd. (d).) • "[M]ajor consideration [must be] given to preventing environmental damage, while providing a decent home and satisfying living environment for every Californian." (Id. at subd. (g).)
• We must "[t]ake all action necessary to provide the people of this state with clean air and water, enjoyment of aesthetic, natural, scenic, and historic environmental qualities, and freedom from excessive noise." (Pub. Res.
Code, § 21001, subd. (b).)
A-10: Cities, counties, and other local governmental entities have an important role to play in ensuring environmental justice for all of California's residents. Under state law: "[E]nvironmental justice" means the fair treatment of people of all races, cultures, and incomes with respect to the development, adoption, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies.
Gov. Code § 65040.12, subd. (e).) Fairness in this context means that the benefits of a healthy environment should be available to everyone, and the burdens of pollution should not be focused on sensitive populations or on communities that already are experiencing its adverse effects.
Response A-10: The Draft EIR determined that the Project would generate less than significant air quality and GHG impacts as defined under CEQA.
Additionally, the Draft EIR shows that the Project’s localized emissions during construction and operational activity would be less than significant without implementation of mitigation measures (pages 4.2 -26 through
4.2-28). Therefore, the Project would not burden the local community or sensitive populations. As a result, the burdens of pollution, referenced in Gov. Code § 65040.12, subd (e), are not focused on a sensitive population or a community already experiencing adverse effects.
A-11: The City Council needs to make the right decision and further protect its citizenry and neighbors from the I environmental impact burdens they will encounter and approve GSEJA's appeal in requesting a new EIR and strive for a Leadership in Energy Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum Certification and or Net Zero Project.
Response A-11: Comment noted.
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Northern Gateway Logistics Center Project
Comments and Responses
A-12: Due to the above -mentioned reasons as well as the reasons listed in the original comment letter to the EIR, GSEJA believes the EIR is flawed and a new EIR must be prepared for the proposed project and circulated for public review. GSEJA requests the City of Menifee City Council reverse the decision of the Planning Commission approval of the project and require a new EIR.
Response A-12: Comment noted. The City disagrees that the EIR is flawed and does not feel that a new EIR must be prepared.
A-13: Refer to Bracketed Appeal Letter A for the entire comment. Response A-11: Comment noted.