LA City Council votes 10-0 for temporary ban on large cold-storage warehouses in Boyle Heights

The Los Angeles City Council voted 10-0 on Friday (November 13) to ask the city attorney to draft an interim control ordinance temporarily banning large cold-storage warehousing and distribution in industrial areas of the Boyle Heights Community Plan area, in response to the fire that gutted the Lineage Logistics cold-storage warehouse in June.

The motion was introduced by Councilwoman Ysabel Jurado, who represents Boyle Heights. The draft ordinance would block demolition, building, land-use, grading and other permits, as well as certificates of occupancy, for large cold-storage uses. It would take effect for 45 days, with the option to extend it by 10 months and 15 days, and further by up to a year — about 22 months and 15 days in total — or until new zoning, building and fire-code rules are ready. The council will vote on the draft at a future meeting; a council committee approved it on November 7.

Months of stench and pests after the fire

On June 17, a fire broke out at the Lineage Logistics cold-storage warehouse at 1400 S. Los Palos St. and burned for days, leaving thousands of tons of food to rot in the summer heat. For months, residents endured toxic smoke, hazardous cleanup, rodents and flies, and the stench of rotting food. The cleanup removed more than 89 million pounds of spoiled food at a cost of about $100 million and was completed on September 5. Governor Gavin Newsom signed a new cold-storage accountability law in September.

Air monitoring ends; fines still pending

The South Coast Air Quality Management District announced Friday that Lineage has completed all actions required by its abatement order, ending nearly five months of air monitoring, which concluded on November 10. Lineage still faces 39 notices of violation issued between July 12 and August 28, with fines pending, and the cause of the fire remains under investigation. Lineage has sued the operator of the warehouse's rooftop solar panels, alleging faulty electrical connections started the blaze. Mayor Karen Bass and the council had already moved to withhold rebuilding permits for the warehouse.

(File photo: a street scene in Boyle Heights. Image: LA Local)