A lawsuit challenging a massive warehouse project in Bloomington continues nearly four years after San Bernardino County approved the development. Environmental and community groups argue the project has already displaced residents and could worsen environmental and housing burdens in the unincorporated community.
Environmental groups first sued San Bernardino County after supervisors approved the Bloomington Business Park Specific Plan in 2022. The project could bring up to four warehouses to roughly 213 acres of land in Bloomington.
In 2024, a San Bernardino County Superior Court judge stopped construction on the project after finding deficiencies in the county's environmental review. The county later recirculated portions of its environmental analysis for additional public review.
Now, environmental and community organizations have filed an additional legal challenge alleging the county failed to meet its obligations under California law to "affirmatively further fair housing" when it approved the project.
The writ of petition filed on behalf of the People's Collective for Environmental Justice, Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice and the Center for Biological Diversity argues that county officials failed to adequately analyze or mitigate the project's impacts on housing displacement, segregation and environmental conditions in a predominantly Latino, low-income community.
The petition states the development would result in the demolition of more than 100 homes and displace residents while introducing additional warehouse-related truck traffic and air pollution into an area already impacted by freight transportation activity.
A spokesman with San Bernardino County said in an email that the county doesn't comment on pending litigation. The attorney representing Howard Industrial Partners, the developer behind the project, did not respond to requests for comment.
Opponents of the project say displacement has already occurred.
Felipe Ortiz, a former Bloomington renter whose property was acquired for the project, said he was forced to leave after learning the land had been sold for warehouse development.
Xochitl Pedraza, a Bloomington resident, speaks during a press conference outside the San Bernardino Justice Center ahead of a court hearing challenging the Bloomington Business Park Specific Plan on June 5, 2026.
Ortiz claims that in January 2024, representatives from Howard Industrial Partners locked him inside his home when he tried to step out of his front gate. Ortiz also claims that just a few weeks later, construction workers attempted to bulldoze the gate in an attempt to demolish the property.
Now living in the high desert, Ortiz said he continues to support residents fighting the project.
"I want [Howard] to stop what they're doing with this project," said Ortiz. "There are still other children and families like mine who will continue to be impacted like we were. And I wouldn't want to see that."
In a previous statement regarding Ortiz's case, Michael Tunney, vice president of development for Howard Industrial Partners, said the company was not informed that occupants were living on the property when it was purchased. Tunney also said Ortiz later entered into a settlement agreement and received $15,000 in relocation assistance despite the company having no contractual obligation to provide those funds.
Susan Phillips, director of the Robert Redford Conservancy for Southern California Sustainability at Pitzer College, said Bloomington represents one of the most visible examples of warehouse growth that has transformed the Inland Empire into one of the nation's largest logistics hubs.
Phillips said the Inland Empire has added roughly 55 million square feet of warehouse space since a previous study was released in 2023.
"We're clearly making a decision about where to prioritize our construction," Phillips said. "When people say homes, not warehouses, people over profits, they're not just empty phrases."
