Warehouses and other industrial facilities are popping up in Otay Mesa, a community in the southern section of San Diego on the border with Mexico, at a staggering pace — most notably in the form of an enormous new 3.4 million-square-foot Amazon distribution center.
The expansion is being driven by international trade patterns that have encouraged companies to relocate import-export facilities from Asia to Mexico, where goods are then shipped into the United States. Amazon’s presence in the region, for example, includes a sister facility in Tijuana.
Government officials see the situation as an opportunity to not only add jobs but address the region’s housing affordability crisis. Over the last few years, they’ve teamed with real estate developers to open the door in Otay Mesa to thousands of new houses and apartment units.
However, those who have fought for people impacted by warehouse clusters elsewhere — most notably in the California counties of San Bernardino and Riverside — point out that residents often suffer from noise and poor air quality as a parade of freight trucks spew pollution through parks, schools and neighborhoods.
They wonder if a similar dynamic will play out here, albeit in reverse. Rather than warehouses descending on communities, housing would be dropped into a rapidly industrializing area.
“This appears to be a company town from scratch. I think it’s somewhat unprecedented in California,” said Sara Clark, an environmental lawyer with Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger. She recently helped ink a $47 million settlement over the future World Logistics Center in Moreno Valley, requiring investments in everything from truck electrification to home air filters.
Elected leaders have demanded no such measures of new businesses in Otay Mesa. Rather, they say a $1 billion border crossing, which could open as soon as 2024, will curb pollution from idling of trucks.
“It’s one of the last green spaces in the city of San Diego, and we do have a major housing crisis, so we absolutely do have to build,” said San Diego Councilmember Vivian Moreno, whose District 8 includes western Otay Mesa. “The hope is that these trucks will go directly on a freeway.”
Even if the new crossing helps reduce some pollution, truck traffic across the border is expected to surge. Currently, about 2 million commercial vehicles annually cross at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry, according to Caltrans. That number is now expected to increase by up to 5 percent a year into the foreseeable future.
San Diego County Supervisor Nora Vargas, whose District 1 includes the eastern part of Otay Mesa, declined an interview request to discuss the hazards of siting housing near industrial facilities. She said in an email she’s dedicated to improving the region’s already poor air quality.
“For many years, border communities have been disproportionately impacted by toxic emissions, and clean air is one of my priorities for this region,” wrote the Chula Vista resident. “I’m closely monitoring how new infrastructure and future development might impact these families.”
Vargas and the San Diego County Board of Supervisors have blessed plans to build homes in the area, home to everything from the Otay Landfill to myriad new commercial developments, such as the $100 million, 50-acre industrial park dubbed Landmark at Otay.
Specifically, the county has rezoned a large swath of land for more than 3,150 new multi- and single-family homes just a few blocks away from Amazon’s new facility on Otay Mesa Road. The development site, dubbed Otay 250 Sunroad, is envisioned as a mix of heavy industrial and apartment buildings with ground-floor storefronts.
The site, still just a grassy mesa, is surrounded by numerous other sources of air, noise and light pollution. Immediately to the west is Highway 125 and another large warehouse project currently under construction called California Crossings. To the south is a natural gas power plant called Wildflower Larkspur Energy Facility. To the north is the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility. The new homes would also be in the flight path of Brown Field Municipal Airport, located directly on the other side of the highway.
The developer of the housing project, Sunroad Enterprises, did not return a request for comment. But in 2018, project lead Uri Feldman told the county Planning Commission that his company’s request to rezone the land for homes came in direct response to the desire of businesses looking to locate in the area.
“We’ve had conversations with the Chamber [of Commerce] and others who are involved in the job-creation business, and their answer is in order to get high-value jobs and higher-paying jobs, we need to allow people to live a little bit closer,” he told the panel. “Otherwise, the businesses don’t want to go there, and they don’t create the jobs.”
Vargas’ team said the county supervisor only become aware that Amazon was moving to the area earlier this year.
But Janet Gutiérrez, who lives across the street from the new warehouse facility, said she’s known for several years that the retail giant planned to move into the neighborhood. Her family sold their 60-acre property to the company and plans to move out in November.
“I don’t want to live here anymore,” said Gutiérrez, who’s lived in the area with her husband and four kids. “Two, three years ago, living here was totally different, quiet and relaxed.
“Now it’s dangerous to go outside,” she added. “Trucks go too fast. It’s louder. Sometimes they’re working with the helicopter and all the houses are shaking.”
Meanwhile, the city of San Diego has approved a zoning plan for 4,485 homes just south of state Route 905 on the western edge of Otay Mesa. And developer Pardee Homes is pushing a similar blueprint nearby for an additional 5,130 residential units.
The Environmental Health Coalition, which has long fought for low-income communities of color burdened by air pollution such as in Barrio Logan and National City, excoriated the city’s plan. The advocacy group stated unequivocally in a public comment letter that “people and toxics don’t mix.”
However, so far, the environmental-justice group has found itself outmatched.
“These developments are creating incompatible land use that expose residents to pollution from heavy-duty trucks and cars,” Diane Takvorian, executive director of the coalition, wrote in an email. “We just don’t have the bandwidth to fight every battle.”
Housing appears to be an increasingly significant issue for Amazon. The company recently launched a $2 billion fund to create or at least preserve more than 20,000 affordable homes. The company, currently valued at $1.7 trillion, is providing money to developers to build specifically in areas where it operates.
