South El Monte City Council denies mega warehouse

After almost eight hours, the South El Monte City Council decided in a unanimous vote to deny the construction of an over 200,000 square foot mega warehouse on Lexington-Gallatin Road which includes an athletic facility the applicant also proposed, on Aug. 18 at the South El Monte City Hall.

“I thank you all for fighting and standing up for what you believe in,” South El Monte Mayor Gloria Olmos said. “This makes me very proud as your mayor.”

This special meeting housed over 200 residents who showed up for public comment which initially lasted four hours before the closed session took place. Residents banded together with signs and chants to convince their city council to not move forward with what they think is a dangerous, profit forward plan

Former Council member, Vera Valdiviez called out the three council members, Rudy Bojorquez, Hector Delgado and Larry Rodriguez who are currently under fire and risking a recall in November.

“You are bringing in warehouses we don't want,” Valdiviez said. “We want you to listen to the community. We want you to better this community. The three of you have too much power and we don’t like that.

According to 825lexingtongallatin.com, the site proposed by Magellan Value Partners, a real estate development firm, is a roughly 10 acre athletic field business park that features baseball and soccer facilities, walking paths and restrooms as well as a snack shop and utility building for maintenance. However, there is also another 10 acre solar powered warehouse adjacent to the park that Magellan said will generate hundreds of jobs including union construction jobs.

Magellan carried out the first public outreach for this project in July 2024 along with their involvement at night markets and community events. The Planning Commission discussed this project on Feb. 24 and April 28 when it eventually reached the City Council agenda on May 5 and Aug. 18.

Residents attended the city council meetings and planning commission meetings earlier in the year to show their concern and to point out the lack of transparency from the council

During the Aug. 18 meeting, residents brought up issues in areas like safety for children, environmental issues, traffic congestion and health crises, backed up by the fact that the City of South El Monte is approximately 54 percent warehouses. They feel as if this mega warehouse is unnecessary and designed to systemically affect the lower-working class.

Residents also mentioned when the council canvased surrounding neighborhoods for the project, residents were told it was strictly a park and the mega warehouse details never came up.

Local labor and carpenter unions attended the meeting on Aug. 18 as they found this beneficial to themselves and potentially for the residents eventually working in the warehouse.

“I’m sorry you guys are going to suffer from a little bit of traffic but people in this community will benefit from these jobs,” Laborer, Gonzalo Ramos said.

Lots of back and forth banter between the union workers and residents as residents pointed out the low wages that the warehouse jobs provide. Residents are more concerned about their health and safety rather than employment. Many repeated how they do not want to die for their work

The project plans to have 27 docks for diesel trucks to load and unload, operating 24/7. According to the Environmental Impact Report, this project exceeds local safety thresholds by over 4,900 metric tons. The pollution emitted from this warehouse scares residents regarding their air quality even if the utility trucks on-site are electric.

With this project already close to the 60 freeway, which knowingly emits tons of pollution everyday, traffic was a big concern for residents as well. Residents believe if this project is built traffic congestion will become more of a problem than El Monte already has, specifically on residential streets not made for such transportation

Residents find this project alarmingly close to schools and residential areas.

“As someone who relies on public transportation, there are times when I and many other students have to wait outside for our bus,” Tessa Oseguera, senior at South El Monte High School said. “Many students live on the other side of the freeway and walk home where the warehouse is planned to be built. The 27 loading docks invite more traffic and trucks that could impact the students safety when walking home or to the bus stop.”

Magellan said in their presentation that about 800 people signed the petition to allow this project; however a maximum of 10 residents used their public comment to vouch for the project while the rest of the room heckled after their designated five minutes was up.

South El Monte Resident Kimberly Valencia, who is also running for South El Monte City Council this November, started a petition on change.org to stop the construction of the warehouse and it currently has 1,439 signatures.

During the applicant’s presentation, Magellan Founding Partner, Martin Slusser asked for more time for discussion because Magellan still needs to be approved for the grant money from the state and county.

Slusser said he is trying to make compromises for the community but the community said they struggle to see any compromises and only damaging effects.

Southelmontestrong on Instagram posted ways for residents to continue this fight against mega warehouses and data centers. The flyer consisted of council members' emails and urged citizens to call and demand a 45-day moratorium so this does not happen to their community in the future.

Editor-in-Chief, Sarah Van Buskirk can be reached at bysarahvanbuskirk@gmail.com.