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Stores take a step forward
Next move is for City Council to consider final approval
| Thursday, Sep 20 2007 10:51 PM
Last Updated: Thursday, Sep 20 2007 10:51 PM
Environmental documents and zone changes for two proposed Wal-Mart Supercenters were approved Thursday by the city of Bakersfield Planning Commission.
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One store would be at the Gosford Village Shopping Center on Gosford Road, between Pacheco and Harris roads. The second is slated for the Panama Lane Shopping Center, off Highway 99 and Panama Lane.
Commissioners unanimously approved reports for both stores and recommended zoning changes for the Gosford location. But two commissioners voted against the zone changes for the Highway 99 store, citing traffic congestion concerns.
The city council may take up final approval of the two stores at a November meeting.
Commissioners said they were impressed by the thorough documents, which examined issues such as urban decay and air quality impacts presented by the stores. A cart with 25 large binders containing the environmental impact reports was in council chambers.
Aaron Rios, company spokesman, said Wal-Mart’s been a strong community partner in Bakersfield for over 16 years. The stores, including Sam’s Club, employ 1,350 people in Bakersfield. Supercenters typically employ about 450 people.
In 2006, Wal-Mart purchased more than $1.2 billion in produce from San Joaquin Valley suppliers, Rios said. Carolyn Mitchell, a Bakersfield resident, said she likes Wal-Mart and thinks southwest residents should have access to the stores. “If you do not like Wal-Mart, you do not have to shop there,” she said.
But Renee Nelson, a consultant for law firm Herum, Crabtree and Brown, asked commissioners to consider how many cities have two Supercenters 31⁄2 miles apart. The law firm represents Bakersfield Citizens for Local Control, which filed a lawsuit that stopped construction of the stores in 2003.
“Maybe we need one store,” she said. “If we want to have a strong community that’s clean and well-planned, sometimes we have to look at a project and say this is not the best place for it. Sometimes we have to say no.”
Michael Jennings works at Albertsons. “We offer good wages, we offer good jobs,” he said, noting Wal-Mart doesn’t.
Audience members and commissioners commented about traffic and access concerns with the Supercenter off Highway 99.
Commissioner Tom McGinnis said he can picture the congestion and frustration motorists will experience trying to get in and out of the shopping center.
Jared Foster said he thinks the parking area will become a nightmare once the Supercenter opens. Foster is a member of the Bakersfield Citizens for Local Control.
Project applicant, developer Lee Jamieson, said the Supercenters will create competition, which will benefit Bakersfield consumers.
In other business, the commission:
• Approved a zone change request from the city of Bakersfield for about 19 acres for a city-owned sports park that borders the former Mesa Marin raceway. It’s off Highway 178 near Masterson Street. Improvements are planned for the four ball diamonds, restroom, concessions building and parking lot. Construction may begin in spring 2008, and could cost nearly $3.3 million.
• Approved a a commercial center at the northwest corner of Alfred Harrell Highway and Highway 178. Tenants would include a convenience store with gas pumps and two multi-tenant retail sites.
• Continued until Oct. 4 considering a final environmental impact report for housing on 313 acres south of state Route 119 between Old River and Buena Vista roads. The site is used for farming row crops. The land would be annexed into the city of Bakersfield and approximately 1,300 single-family residential lots would be developed along with a six-acre park. The homes would be near two dairies.
• Approved a zone change for Grubb & Ellis ASU & Associates so houses may be built on nearly 30 acres of farmland west of Old River Road, east of Green Road, and near Taft Highway in southwest Bakersfield. Approximately 132 single-family units would go in.
Timeline
Oct. 3, 2002: Opposition to two Wal-Mart Supercenters is launched.
Feb 12, 2003: The Bakersfield City Council approves the Panama Lane/Highway 99 and Gosford Village projects that contain the two Wal-Mart stores.
March 12, 2003: Bakersfield Citizens for Local Control files suit against both projects.
Jan. 31, 2004: A Kern County Superior Court judge says the city didn’t do enough environmental work on the projects and orders work on the Wal-Marts to stop. Other parts of the projects are allowed to move forward.
March 3, 2004: Bakersfield Citizens appeals the ruling, looking for the entire projects to be halted.
Dec. 13, 2004: The 5th District Court of Appeal sets aside all city approvals of both the Panama/99 and Gosford Village projects.
April 1, 2005: News that settlements are being discussed surfaces at a hearing on the case in Kern County Superior Court.
June 10, 2005: A settlement in the Panama/99 project is approved in Kern County Superior Court.
Sept. 16, 2005: A Kern County Superior Court judge rules construction must stop, but existing stores can stay, at the Gosford Village shopping center.
April 6, 2006: The Bakersfield Planning Commission decides that future big-box stores must be analyzed for the possibility they’ll cause urban decay.
July 2, 2007: The deadline for public comments on the second set of environmental impact reports.