San Bernardino Agency Cancels Airport Project After Community Lawsuit Over Health and Housing Risks
2 min read
Community members gather outside the Norton Regional Event Center after the IVDA board voted to cancel the Inland Valley project following a lawsuit filed by the People’s Collective for Environmental Justice Action.
Just months after the People’s Collective for Environmental Justice Action filed a lawsuit challenging the Inland Valley Development Agency’s (IVDA) redevelopment plan, the IVDA Board voted Wednesday night to cancel the project, presumably to avoid losing in court.
“If this project had gone forward, it would’ve put our children, elders, and families at greater risk. We’ve already seen how unchecked development harms our health and safety. Today’s vote is a relief, but it’s also a reminder that we’ve had to fight too many times to protect what should’ve been protected from the start,” said Alberto Hernandez, a Highland resident and community member. “Our community deserves to be heard before decisions are made, not after.”
The vote on September 10th marks a clear victory for the communities surrounding the San Bernardino Airport. The abandoned plan—known as the Inland Valley Infrastructure Corridor Project, or IVIC—was IVDA’s second attempt to push through an infrastructure project that could have displaced thousands of residents and leveled hundreds of units of affordable housing in order to increase warehouse and industrial development in neighborhoods in Highland and San Bernardino surrounding the San Bernardino Airport.
The IVDA Board voted to completely cancel the proposal following PCEJ’s lawsuit that exposed the IVDA’s egregious violations of the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA, a landmark law that requires the agency to fully inform the community of the environmental risks from its infrastructure project and the future development it will facilitate.
In 2024, the Inland Valley Development Agency abandoned its similar “Airport Gateway Specific Plan” proposal following extensive criticism from the community and from the California Attorney General’s office. The project also would have designated residential neighborhoods north of San Bernardino International Airport for warehouse, industrial, and commercial development, while building out infrastructure to support the new development.
“This vote is a win for environmental justice, but it shouldn’t have taken three rounds of community resistance to get here. From Eastgate to Airport Gateway to IVIC, we’ve had to block projects that ignored our voices and wasted public resources,” said Brenda Huerta Soto, Board Member, PCEJ Action. “We urge the IVDA board to commit to meaningful engagement moving forward.”
In the lawsuit filed in April, PCEJ outlined how the IVDA improperly relied on a flawed Environmental Impact Report that failed to meet CEQA’s informational standards and included conclusions unsupported by substantial evidence to advance the IVIC.
“The IVDA’s approval of this project clearly violated the law, and we’re gratified that the IVDA Board has seen the light,” said attorney Kevin Bundy of the firm Shute, Mihaly &Weinberger LLP. “Now it’s time for the IVDA to pivot toward working with and supporting communities near the airport so it doesn’t just keep making the same mistakes.”
