Just months after the People’s Collective for Environmental Justice Action filed a lawsuit challenging the Inland Valley Development Agency’s (IVDA) redevelopment plan, the IVDA Board voted Wednesday night to cancel the project, presumably to avoid losing in court.
“If this project had gone forward, it would’ve put our children, elders, and families at greater risk. We’ve already seen how unchecked development harms our health and safety. Today’s vote is a relief, but it’s also a reminder that we’ve had to fight too many times to protect what should’ve been protected from the start,” said Alberto Hernandez, a Highland resident and community member. “Our community deserves to be heard before decisions are made, not after.”
The vote Wednesday night marks a clear victory for the communities surrounding the San Bernardino Airport. The abandoned plan—known as the Inland Valley Infrastructure Corridor Project, or IVIC—was IVDA’s second attempt to push through an infrastructure project that could have displaced thousands of residents and leveled hundreds of units of affordable housing in order to increase warehouse and industrial development in neighborhoods in Highland and San Bernardino surrounding the San Bernardino Airport…