The City of Tulare’s fight against the State of California and Attorney General Rob Bonta to protect its zoning rules is heading to court next week.
If Tulare wins its case, the city will be allowed to keep its new zoning rules that it established for certain facilities.
The backstory: Bonta announced in January 2025 that the state would sue Tulare for its Zoning Ordinance Update, which allows cold-storage and other facilities to be permitted by-right in light and heavy industrial zones.
- The ordinance update was approved by the Tulare City Council in December 2024 without conducting an environmental review. The update was exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
- But Bonta argued that the by-right development of cold-storage and other industrial facilities violates CEQA, adding that the Matheny Tract – a historically Black community now with a Hispanic population of nearly 90% – would be adversely affected.
The other side: Tulare lawyered up to fight Bonta and argued that the Attorney General had it wrong.
- The city said its General Plan and Environmental Impact Report that established the by-right uses were adopted in 2014.
- The city also said its Zoning Ordinance Update did not make any changes to the regulation of cold-storage facilities and warehouses since they have always been a permitted use by-right in light and heavy industrial uses.
- City Manager Marc Mondell said at the time that he requested a meeting on the city’s zoning rules with the Attorney General’s Office, but Bonta did not communicate at all before filing the lawsuit against the city.
What we’re watching: Tulare County Judge David Mathias is scheduled to hear the trial next week.
