Several environmental groups have challenged the city of Portland’s decision to issue a building permit for a large freight warehouse at the former Kmart building in Northeast Portland.

It’s the latest in a push of more than a year by environmental advocates, local residents and school officials to deny permits for the warehouse, citing the city’s own express policy to further environmental justice.

The groups say the city has failed to analyze how the planned 244,000-square-foot warehouse would affect surrounding neighborhoods, including multiple apartment housing complexes and two schools that either directly abut or are in walking distance of the site.

Portland last November issued permits to San Francisco-based developer Prologis for a warehouse with 37 truck-loading bays near the intersection of 122nd Avenue and Sandy Boulevard.

That’s where the Parkrose and Argay Terrace neighborhoods meet – an area home to many low-income residents, immigrants and people of color hemmed in by two freeways and an industrial zone.

Modeling from a diesel study by Portland State University has shown the area experiences high pollution levels. It also has experienced some of the highest temperatures in the city during recent heat waves, according to the university’s urban-studies professor Vivek Shandas.

Groups including 1000 Friends of Oregon filed a petition Monday with the state Land Use Board of Appeals saying the city failed to consider the project’s noise, odor and vibration impacts on the surrounding neighborhoods.

The city considered only the impacts of glare, but city code requires such projects to comply with all four standards, the challenge contends.

The other petitioners are Neighbors for Clean Air, a state-wide air quality advocacy group; and Northwest Environmental Defense Center, a nonprofit based at Lewis & Clark Law School.

In the context of a freight warehouse, noise and odor refer to increased truck traffic and diesel emissions from heavy-duty trucks. Vibrations would be felt from onsite machinery such as trucks and forklifts.

The code also requires permit applicants to supply documentation to show compliance with the standards, but Prologis only supplied documentation on the impacts of glare, according to the petition.

Prologis spokesperson Mattie Sorrentino said the company has complied with all local requirements and has started to redevelop the site.

“We have worked cooperatively with the city and the community for over two years on this project and believe that the LUBA appeal has no basis,” Sorrentino wrote via email. “As a long-time member of the Portland business community, we are investing $40 million to build a modern and sustainable logistics facility that will bring new jobs and support the local economy.”

Bureau of Planning and Sustainability spokesperson Magan Reed said the city could not comment on the pending litigation. The bureau writes the zoning code that is used to determine the rules a development must meet before permit approval. City officials have said Prologis met all development standards prior to issuing the permits.

But in its petition, the environmental groups point out that Portland’s 2035 Comprehensive Plan requires the city to avoid or minimize negative health impacts of development, particularly in communities that have been historically under-served and “have carried the burden of adverse effects from city planning and implementation.” The city’s Climate Emergency Workplan also focuses on racial equity and justice to build resilience to the impacts of climate change.

City officials previously told The Oregonian/OregonLive that Portland’s zoning code has yet to catch up with the ambitious environmental justice policies.

The environmental groups’ lawyer, Rebeka Dawit, said the city must do better.

“The code provisions we do have are not targeted or stringent enough to protect neighbors from the impacts of these kinds of facilities,” Dawit told The Oregonian/OregonLive.

— Gosia Wozniacka covers environmental justice, climate change, the clean energy transition and other environmental issues. Reach her at gwozniacka@oregonian.com or 971-421-3154.