No. Fullerton’s proposed Environmental Justice Element would create no zoning or development standards for homes. It would guide later city decisions, but it would not approve construction or commit money to specified activities.
What the city is deciding
The City Council is asked to add the Environmental Justice Element as Appendix N of the Fullerton Plan, the city’s long-range policy plan. An element is one chapter of that plan. The new chapter contains eight goals and 50 supporting policies focused on pollution and health burdens in designated communities.
Where and who it affects
Fullerton has nine census tracts designated as disadvantaged communities. They are concentrated in the Northern Industrial Corridor near Imperial Highway, southwest communities near Buena Park and southeast communities near Placentia. The policies direct recommended improvements and programs toward those tracts, but the documents reviewed do not identify their streets.
What it could mean for your property
The element itself would not change what can be built on a private lot. Future projects under its framework would receive their own environmental review.
The policies would guide the city to reduce conflicts between homes, schools and childcare facilities and pollution-generating uses through measures such as buffering where feasible. They also call for enforcing truck and bus routes to reduce air pollution, noise and safety effects in residential neighborhoods.
Other policies call for teaching owners about air filters, ventilation and landscaping, and for more solar and energy storage for housing in the nine tracts. They support housing maintenance, weatherization, rehabilitation and information about lead paint, mold, loans and grants. The element also calls for future development to pay its fair share for needed public facilities through city development fees.
The item has no fiscal impact beyond preparing the document and related work. The documents do not give funding amounts for housing programs or establish a new rule for private homes.
Questions to ask before you buy or build
- Is the property inside one of Fullerton’s nine designated census tracts?
- What zoning and development standards currently apply to the lot?
- Are housing rehabilitation or environmental hazard programs available for the property?
What happens next
The City Council is asked to consider the amendment at its October 20 public hearing. The Planning Commission recommended approval on August 12. No Council vote is recorded yet. If adopted, staff would submit the element to the Governor’s Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation and publish it as Appendix N on the city’s General Plan website.