Petition of opposition to Metro Area Plan
PLEASE SIGN OUR PETITION - SCROLL DOWN FOR DIGITAL SIGNATURE SUBMISSION.
STOP THE RECKLESS & HARMFUL INDUSTRIAL DOWNZONING PROPOSED IN THE LA COUNTY METRO AREA PLAN
We, the members of the LA County Industrial Business & Property Coalition, are writing to express our strong opposition to the proposed downzoning of industrial properties in Unincorporated Los Angeles County in the Metro Area Plan. We urge you to reconsider this ill-advised plan, which we believe will have a devastating impact on the area's economy, employment base, small businesses, property values, and vacancies.
FIRST, we are deeply concerned that the County has failed to conduct any economic analysis of the expected impact of this proposal to area employment, industrial small businesses, and property values. Common sense and economic literacy dictate that the Metro Area Plan will result in massive job losses, small businesses closing their doors, and property values decimated. Yet, the County has provided no evidence to the contrary.
The Plan deals with vacant land and buildings over 200,000 SF the same as small 10,000 SF and multi-tenant properties. The Plan needs to be modified to adapt to these different land use situations.
No economic analysis was completed to determine how damaging requiring conditional use permits (“CUP’s”) for warehousing and light manufacturing uses would be on the ability to lease industrial properties to their intended tenants. Prospective tenants (especially small businesses) cannot wait months to find out if they will be permitted to lease a property and will instead choose to move to areas where they can occupy a property shortly after they sign a lease.
"We call on the County to undertake a thorough analysis of the economic impact of this proposal on area employment, industrial small businesses, property values, property vacancies (and potential area blight), and lease rates before taking ANY further steps."
SECOND, we believe that the proposed "clean" industries (life-science, biomedical, tech, software engineering, and artisanal uses) that the County expects to replace the existing industrial uses are nothing more than a fantasy wish-list untethered to reality.
The County conducted no economic analysis of the demand for aging industrial buildings from these sectors or how that demand stacks up against the millions of square feet of vacant industrial space that would need to be filled. Moreover, the County has failed to complete any study of the property characteristics and improvements required by these "target" industries, to what extent those are present or lacking in the existing County industrial inventory, and whether the required capital expenditures for such conversions render it economically infeasible. No analysis was completed to determine whether the properties in the affected areas have the on-site parking required by these sectors. Moreover, no analysis was conducted on lease rates and building characteristics in other areas competing for these same industries. And the “Implementation” plan budgets exactly zero dollars to fund efforts to attract the target industries. It is clear that the County has turned a blind eye to the impracticality of its proposal.
"We call on the County to undertake a thorough economic feasibility analysis to determine the viability, or lack thereof, of attracting the target industries to the affected areas before taking ANY further steps. "
FINALLY, we are deeply troubled by the County's outreach efforts, which excluded impacted industrial businesses and property owners from having a seat at the table for over two years, beginning in 2021 when extensive and ongoing outreach to residents began, until February 2023, when affected property owners were finally notified. The County has still not notified or sought input from impacted industrial tenants. This exclusion is unacceptable and undermines the credibility of the County's decision-making process.
" We call on the County to conduct the same level of community outreach, and seek the same level of input, from affected small businesses and mom & pop property owners as it did with area residents before taking ANY further steps."
Thank you for your attention to this important matter.
SIGN THE PETITION HERE
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