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For the second time in three months, the Moreno Valley City Council Tuesday voted in favor of a massive industrial project proposed for the city’s east end.
In 5-0 vote, the council voted to adopt three ballot initiatives that support the World Logistics Center rather than put each of those measures before voters in a special election.
That vote essentially reaffirmed the council’s 3-2 vote last August in favor of the warehouse-house distribution project, which would cover 40.6 million square feet, or approximately 700 football fields.
About 49,000 signatures – a little more than 16,000 per initiative – were submitted in support of each measure, City Clerk Jane Halstead said.
“With tonight’s unanimous vote, the city council approved three voter initiatives that affirm the council’s previous approval of the World Logistics Center,” Mayor Jesse Molina said in a statement released shortly after council members cast their votes.
“Nearly 49,000 signatures from Moreno Valley voters on the initiative petitions attest to the great promise that the WLC holds for our city’s future.”
The project, which would be developed by Moreno Valley-based Highland Fairview, would create an estimated 20,000 jobs and pump billions of dollars into the local economy, according to its supporters.
Opponents, however, claim the project would add to the region’s traffic problems while increasing air pollution and noise. Nine lawsuits have been filed agains the project, mostly on environmental grounds.
All three ballot initiatives were meant to give the project some ammunition against those lawsuits, which are expected to be heard starting early next year.
“Nine lawsuits were filed in an attempt to use the California Environmental Quality Act to delay this project,” Molina said in the statement. “The voters who signed these initiatives made it clear – they will not stand for abuse of the CEQA process by those who want to block job creation.”
