Hemet extends moratorium on warehouses for one year as council pledges regulatory rewrite

The Hemet City Council voted 5-0 on Jan. 14 to adopt an urgency ordinance extending the city's moratorium on the establishment or expansion of warehouses and distribution facilities by 10 months and 15 days, taking the total pause on approvals to one year and setting the new expiration for Dec. 9, 2025.

The extension gives city staff time to prepare a regulatory ordinance for industrial, logistics and distribution uses, city attorneys said, and council members said they expected the regulatory update to come back for Planning Commission and City Council review well before the moratorium expires.

Supporters and opponents framed the matter very differently during a lengthy public-hearing period. Opponents warned of potential health, safety and quality-of-life impacts from warehouses and the trucks that serve them, while supporters argued the facilities bring local jobs.

"They're all going automated. They're getting rid of the people. It's so much cheaper," said Roy Fails, a resident who urged caution about relying on…