Transit Zoning Code SD-84 (TZC SD-84) Frequently Asked Questions

To ensure effective oversight, the City continues to foster collaborative interdepartmental and interagency coordination with regulatory agencies such as, Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA) regarding safety compliance and emergency response planning, and the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) for technical guidance on air quality monitoring and compliance. Internal coordination continues between City departments including the Planning Division, Code Enforcement Division, Santa Ana Police Department, and the Public Works Agency to ensure comprehensive implementation oversight. Further, the City’s Neighborhood Initiatives and Environmental Services team also coordinates with federal and state agencies including CalEPA’s Environmental Justice Team and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to identify additional resources and support to affected communities. The Environmental Justice Action Committee, comprising residents, community organizations, and agency representatives, helps guide implementation priorities. Given these established partnerships and communication channels, the City has moved forward with the implementation and maintains collaborative relationships to ensure effective oversight and responsive community support.

The City has implemented a community engagement strategy that includes multiple formats and opportunities for participation. Since April 16, 2024, engagement efforts have included a community information meeting at the Santa Ana Train Station; regular in-person meetings at City Hall with business stakeholders and residents, together, with opportunities for discussion; field visits to affected neighborhoods have allowed for direct observation and community input in context; and tours of industrial businesses. The Planning Commission Study Session and subsequent public hearings have and will also offer formal venues for community feedback. The City maintains a dedicated project webpage (www.santa-ana.org/transit-zoning-code-update/) that provides regular updates, meeting materials, and upcoming engagement opportunities, as well as contact information for project staff. Additionally, outreach has included conversations and meetings with external regulatory agencies who oversee the permitting of industrial business operations, such as South Coast AQMD, DTSC, County of Orange Healthcare Agency, as well as neighborhood-specific sessions with Lacy and Logan residents, one-on-one consultations, direct email communications, phone calls, and coordination through the Environmental Justice Action Committee.

The TZC Updates do not trigger the loss of nonconforming status for a sale, lease or transfer of a property containing a nonconforming building, structure or use. However, the nonconforming status of a business that meets the definition of a Noxious Use, as defined in the TZC, would lose its nonconforming status if it requires a new certificate of occupancy for any reason other than a change in business name with no change in owner of the business. If a nonconforming industrial use that meets the definition of a Noxious use is determined to be in violation of any applicable regulation (Federal, State, Local), legal nonconforming status shall be lost if the violation lasts a period of thirty (30)  consecutive days; or the violation(s) are observed and documented for a total period of sixty (60) days in a one-year period; or three noncompliant notices from a Federal, State, or Local regulatory agency relating to or arising from the nonconforming use are sent in a one-year period.

The TZC Updates do not impact residential, commercial, or mixed-use development in the TZC plan area. Commercial businesses that are compatible with mixed-use and transit-oriented development and meet operational standards will continue to be permitted uses. The TZC Updates address incompatible land uses between industrial uses and residential and commercial areas by prohibiting the establishment of new industrial uses and limiting expansion of current industrial uses.

The TZC Updates prohibit new industrial businesses and the expansion or intensification of existing industrial businesses within the TZC (SD-84) area. Existing industrial businesses may still obtain permits for routine maintenance or similar work, so long that it does not create a newly, expanded, or intensified use.

No. The TZC Updates only apply to the area zoned as the TZC (SD-84). The City is also underway with a comprehensive Zoning Code Update, which is a separate and ongoing effort to update and modernize the City’s Zoning Code to reflect the goals and values of the General Plan Update from 2022.

The update was initiated by the City Council’s adoption of the TZC industrial moratorium on April 16, 2024, and its extension on May 21, 2024. This immediate action was taken to protect public health, safety, and welfare from industrial uses causing significant pollution burden to adjacent residential neighborhoods within the TZC district. Concurrently, the City Council directed staff to develop permanent regulations to specifically address long-standing land use conflicts in the Logan and Lacy neighborhoods, where industrial activity has persisted, expanded, or intensified despite the area’s 2010 transit-oriented zoning designation. Data from CalEnviroScreen 4.0 confirms that these neighborhoods are among California’s most pollution-burdened communities, ranking at 90 percent or above and facing documented exposure to various environmental hazards. The City Council adopted the TZC Updates on June 17, 2025, as the permanent regulations. This result was a hard-won achievement from a collaborative, yet complex, work effort involving City staff, consultants, and diverse business and resident stakeholders. The TZC Updates removed the industrial zoning overlay and deleted industrial uses from the permitted list. This key change rendered all current industrial businesses nonconforming. As a result, nonconforming businesses are prohibited from expanding or intensifying their operations (which would increase potential impacts), and no new industrial businesses are allowed to open.