East LA truck yard approved; new county rules for battery storage take shape

The commission voted to approve the day's agenda. Routine. 00:03:00

• Motion to approve the agenda (mover and seconder not clearly identified). Result: passed. 00:03:07

The commission approved minutes of earlier meetings. The agenda lists minutes for September 16, 2026 (continued from October 7) and September 23, 2026. Routine. 00:03:16

• Motion to approve the minutes of September 16 and a second September meeting (mover and seconder unclear in the audio). Result: passed. 00:03:37

County Counsel read the rules for the meeting: comments must stay on the agenda item or on commission business, disruptive behavior can cost a speaker the right to speak or get them removed or disconnected, and the online chat is only for signing up to speak. 00:03:47

• County staff explained that commissioners don't read the online chat during the meeting and that misusing it can get a participant disconnected 00:04:50

Regional Planning's deputy director had no updates from the Board of Supervisors and introduced a staff presentation on the Renewable Energy Ordinance update. 00:04:50

• County staff said there were no updates from the Board of Supervisors meeting and that a presentation on the renewable energy ordinance update would follow 00:04:50

County planning staff gave a progress report, with no vote, on updating the 2016 Renewable Energy Ordinance. The ordinance sets where renewable energy projects can go in unincorporated areas. Two Board of Supervisors motions directed the work, one in December 2023 and one in April 2024. The draft ordinance would add rules for battery energy storage system facilities and for green hydrogen production facilities. It would limit utility-scale solar, battery storage, and green hydrogen to certain agricultural, manufacturing, commercial-manufacturing, and institutional zones. Battery and hydrogen facilities could not go in significant ecological areas, very high fire hazard severity zones, environmentally sensitive sites, or agricultural resource areas, and could not be within 300 feet of a sensitive use. Utility-scale generation and storage would become allowed in the Antelope Valley's economic opportunity areas. The ban on utility-scale wind stays. A proposed amendment to the Antelope Valley Area Plan is also part of the project. A program environmental impact report is being drafted. 00:05:51

▶ Hear it Is a 300-foot buffer enough for battery storage sites? · 1:06

• County staff said the commission didn't need to take any action and this was only a project update 00:06:40
• County staff explained that the 2016 ordinance bans utility-scale wind and any utility-scale project in a significant ecological area, and doesn't cover battery storage 00:07:42
• County staff said two Board of Supervisors motions guide the work, from December 2023 and April 2024 00:07:42
• County staff said the update would allow utility-scale energy generation and storage in the Antelope Valley's economic opportunity areas, where the current ordinance prohibits utility-scale solar 00:11:31
• County staff listed the areas where battery storage facilities would be prohibited 00:12:36
• County staff said the draft bars siting these facilities within 300 feet of a sensitive use 00:12:36
• County staff reported that the project survey closed in July 2026 with 515 responses 00:13:40
• County staff reported more than 200 comment letters during the environmental scoping period, which closed September 17 00:14:42
• County staff said staff expect to bring a final program EIR back to the commission for a hearing in fall 2027 00:15:48
• A commissioner asked whether 300 feet is enough distance from sensitive uses given recent battery fires, and how fires would be suppressed 00:16:44
• County staff explained that burning batteries are typically allowed to burn while firefighters cool nearby batteries and keep the fire inside one enclosure 00:17:24
• County staff said the 300-foot figure came from the technical study and that, after many comments, staff are weighing alternatives in the program EIR 00:17:24
• County staff said the alternatives include both a larger separation and a smaller one more in line with fire code, since some commenters called 300 feet too restrictive 00:18:17
• A commissioner asked what pollution a battery fire would release into the immediate area 00:18:29
• County staff said the development standards and later fire department review consider the spacing between enclosures to limit a fire spreading from one to the next 00:18:57
• County staff said many stakeholders have raised fire as a concern, and that staff are looking at how to regulate these facilities in very high fire hazard severity zones 00:19:27
• County staff said lithium-ion is the battery type commercially available now, and that emerging technologies with lower fire risk aren't yet showing up in applications 00:20:17
• Pam O'Connor (Commissioner) asked where the environmental review stands 00:21:03
• County staff said the notice of preparation went out August 4, scoping closed September 17, and the document is being drafted 00:21:13
• Yolanda Duarte-White (Commissioner; Vice Chair) asked which communities the outreach reached and how they were chosen 00:21:32
• County staff listed the community groups staff had presented to, among them in East Gardena, Castaic, Lake Los Angeles, El Camino Village, East Rancho Dominguez, and Hacienda Heights, and said the listening sessions were meetings stakeholders asked for, with industry groups, developers, labor groups, and community groups 00:22:40
• County staff added that the virtual meetings were broadcast in multiple languages 00:23:13

The project is 21 attached townhouse-style condominiums in four buildings on 0.8 acres at 11428 Shoemaker Avenue in South Whittier-Sunshine Acres. Under the agenda, three units would be lower-income, with a density bonus of six units and waivers on setbacks, height, design, and patio depth. Staff recommended continuing it off calendar without opening the hearing, and the commission did so. No new hearing date was set. 00:23:37

• Motion to continue the item off calendar without opening the public hearing (mover and seconder not clearly identified). Result: continued. 00:24:04

A conditional use permit for outdoor truck storage at 3833 Medford Street in East Los Angeles. The site is zoned heavy manufacturing in a Green Zone and sits within 500 feet of a sensitive use, with homes to the southwest. The roughly 2.4-acre site, formerly a plastics manufacturer, would hold up to 77 trucks: 31 semi trucks with trailers and 46 box trucks. Conditions in the staff presentation include an 11-foot masonry wall, a 5-foot landscaped buffer with new trees, operating hours of 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., a limit of 40 truck trips and 30 car trips a day, required turns and truck routes that keep trucks off Herbert Avenue, and a device at each driveway that logs trips. Vision City Terrace, a community group, and one other written commenter opposed the project, saying the area is already overburdened with industry, pollution, and traffic. Vision City Terrace asked for a 3-year term instead of 15. Staff recommended a 15-year term. The commission approved the permit 5-0 with the staff-recommended conditions. A proposed amendment to cut the term to 10 years was withdrawn. 00:24:15

▶ Hear it A resident says neighbors are stuck playing whack-a-mole · 0:43

• A commissioner moved to close the public hearing and find the project categorically exempt from environmental review; the chair seconded. Result: passed, 5-0. 01:04:29
• Proposed amendment by a commissioner to cut the permit's term from 15 to 10 years. Result: withdrawn. 01:08:36
• A commissioner moved to approve Conditional Use Permit No. RPPL2024000290 subject to the attached findings and conditions; the chair seconded. Result: passed, 5-0. 01:09:33

• County staff described the site as a corner lot of about 2.4 acres, or 106,000 square feet 00:25:51
• County staff said the application was deemed complete in January 2024, before the Metro Area Plan and the Green Zone technical ordinance were adopted 00:26:57
• County staff said the site plan holds up to 77 trucks, 31 semis with trailers and 46 box trucks 00:29:08
• County staff said the applicant voluntarily sent hearing notices out to 1,000 feet instead of the required 500 00:31:10
• County staff said the applicant proposes 11-foot masonry walls along the street frontages 00:32:14
• County staff said activities would be limited to 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. 00:33:17
• County staff said trucks must turn right in and left out, with limits of 40 truck trips and 30 car trips a day 00:34:19
• County staff explained that the turning rules steer trucks away from Herbert Avenue, a truck route with homes along it 00:35:20
• County staff reported two public comments opposing the project, which said the community is overburdened with industry, pollution, and traffic 00:38:36
• County staff said Vision City Terrace asked for a 3-year term, but staff still recommend 15 years, which is typical for industrial uses 00:38:36
• County staff said the group also asked to limit storage to box trucks only, and noted that the zoning code doesn't distinguish between truck types 00:39:42
• County staff said a 50-foot-deep entryway lets trucks wait on site instead of backing up onto the street 00:40:45
• County staff said the site doesn't appear on the state's contaminated-site lists 00:41:52
• County staff said staff continue to recommend approval subject to the findings and conditions 00:41:52
• County staff said no school is within 500 feet, though an elementary school is south of the 10 Freeway 00:41:52
• County staff said the residential area to the southwest is within 500 feet of the site 00:42:59
• A commissioner asked whether the application is subject to the Green Zone ordinance 00:43:25
• The applicant's representative said the permit is for outdoor truck storage on an existing paved lot, with no buildings proposed 00:44:37
• The applicant's representative said the use is passive truck storage, not shipping goods in and out 00:47:21
• The applicant's representative said no traffic impact analysis was required because daily trips are estimated below 110 00:50:37
• The applicant's representative said the two community groups didn't respond when contacted again in September 00:52:46
• The applicant's representative said the phase one and phase two testing required for the demolition came back clear 00:53:57
• The applicant's representative asked to change condition 39 so the stored cars could be removed within a year or when a tenant signs, whichever comes first, instead of 60 days 00:53:57
• County staff explained that condition 39 requires removing the inoperable vehicles within two months of the hearing 00:57:21
• County staff said the medical center is just under two miles from the site, about six minutes' drive 00:58:59
• County staff said the Vision City Terrace letter was dated October 12 and received October 13 00:59:24
• County staff said there had been allegations that the current owner parked personal vehicles along the street 00:59:43
• The applicant's representative said the owner stopped the street parking after the community meetings 01:00:08
• County staff explained that the county zoning code's reach stops at the property line and doesn't include the street 01:00:51
• County staff said the conditions require all activities and storage to stay within the property boundaries 01:02:01
• A commissioner asked about a letter's complaint that vehicle loading and unloading blocks the streets 01:02:28
• County staff said the stored trucks would be empty and no loading would happen on site 01:02:47
• The applicant's representative said the owner no longer loads or unloads vehicles in the street for his other nearby business 01:03:29
• A commissioner asked whether a 10-year term would be more appropriate than 15, since the community group recommended a much shorter one 01:05:25
• County staff said that because the conditions require site improvements, a term of at least 10 years is appropriate, and that staff would recommend 10 years if the commission shortened it 01:05:59
• A commissioner said they would be more comfortable with a 10-year term 01:05:59
• The property owner asked for a longer term, citing his investment and his more than 50 employees from the neighborhood 01:06:47
• The property owner said he had wanted 20 years but would appreciate keeping 15 01:06:47
• A speaker asked whether the vehicle-removal question was still open, and was told the deadline stays at two months 01:09:14

The open public comment period for items not on the agenda. No one spoke. 01:09:55

• Item 12 (East LA truck storage yard): one resident spoke remotely. She said she belongs to the local community group and lives near the site. She said residents have pushed for years for a more cohesive plan that protects health in the area, that mornings are already congested and blocked by trucks, and she asked the commission at least to shorten the 15-year term.
• Item 12: staff reported two written comments opposing the project, one of them a letter from Vision City Terrace that also proposed changes to the conditions: a 3-year term, fewer trucks, box trucks only, and all business kept on the property.
• General public comment (item 13): no speakers.

• Item 12: the last day to file an appeal of the truck storage permit is October 28, 2026, as stated by the clerk.
• Item 12: condition 39 requires removing the inoperable vehicles stored on the property within two months of the hearing. The applicant's request for up to a year doesn't appear to have been adopted.
• Renewable Energy Ordinance: staff expect to release the draft program EIR and a second draft of the ordinance for public comment in spring 2027, return to the commission for a hearing in fall 2027, and take the project to the Board of Supervisors in late fall or winter 2027.
• Item 11 (South Whittier townhouses) was continued off calendar with no new date set.
• The commission adjourned to Wednesday, October 21, 2026.