The Nov. 28 order suggests the March Joint Powers Authority will need to set aside its approval of the project until Tesco complies with the California Environmental Quality Act which typically involves conducting a lengthy environmental impact report.
The 820,400-square-foot Tesco distribution center, which employs 150 people, recently opened to serve about 15 Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market stores in Southern California, Arizona and Nevada.
Without its original design approval, it's unclear if the distribution center could be forced to close while it conducts environmental reviews.
"I would assume that would follow as a natural consequence," said Raymond Johnson, who represented the plaintiff, Health First, a group he says is made up of several Riverside residents.
The March Joint Power Authority, made up of officials from Riverside County and the cities of Riverside, Moreno Valley and Perris, oversees development on the former March Air Force Base.
The group's general counsel, John Brown of Best Best & Krieger in Riverside, briefed the commission Wednesday morning in closed session.
On the same day, the authority asked the court to clarify its motion. A hearing is set forJan. 15.
"As a public agency we're of course disappointed that our environmental work of many years standing was not found adequate," Brown said Wednesday.
The March Joint Powers Authority conducted an environmental assessment of the former March Air Force Base in 1996 and a master environmental impact report for 2,300 acres of the area's total 6,500 acres was certified in 1999.
In 2003, the agency adopted its March Business Park specific plan for 1,290 of the 2,300 acres with an environmental plan for the Meridian park, where the Tesco facility recently opened.
The March Joint Powers commission applied those standards to the Tesco project but didn't require the British company to do an environmental review of its own.
"We are evaluating all of our alternatives," Brown said. "We did the very best we could to fully comply with the California Environmental Quality Act."
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source: pe.com
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