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Council OKs Mustang Square development, takes on spay-and-neuter issue
| Wednesday, Mar 12 2008 9:12 PM
Last Updated: Thursday, Mar 13 2008 7:07 AM
The City Council will take up the issue of spaying and neutering pets, too.
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In other action, the council:
- Approved an arrangement between the city’s code enforcement department and the Bakersfield Association of Realtors aimed at monitoring foreclosed homes to keep them from falling into disrepair and becoming blighted.
- Voted to allow a jewelry store to move into an office park on the northwest corner of Calloway Avenue and Brimhall Road, despite an appeal from owners of other commercial property in the area.
- Appointed Larry Pickett to the Bakersfield Redevelopment Agency. Pickett will replace Don Cohen, who resigned to run the Bakersfield Convention & Visitors Bureau.
Photos:
In this March 2008 photo, this male shepherd mix was seconds away from being added to the group of dogs, upper right, that have euthanized by Kern County Animal Control.
Pet populations are once again on the rise, forcing Kern County Animal Control to step up the euthanasia of animals. This little pup was in the kennel and was not scheduled to be euthanized at the time the photo was taken.
Councilwoman Jacquie Sullivan referred the issue to the council’s Legislative and Litigation Committee, which is scheduled to meet April 14.
The Kern County Board of Supervisors has asked for a mandatory spay-and-neuter ordinance for its consideration. But the supervisors don’t have authority inside the city limits on this issue.
“It’s not getting any better, it’s getting worse,” Sullivan said.
In other business, a proposed retail development near Stockdale High School got a green light from the Bakersfield City Council on Wednesday.
With a 6-1 vote, the council approved a zone change for Mustang Square, an 11-acre development slated to include a Fresh & Easy market, a Walgreens, a car wash and up to two drive-through restaurants.
It was the car wash and drive-throughs that attracted opposition from residents of the surrounding neighborhood, even though developer Tom Carosella agreed to redesign the site to minimize the impacts on nearby homes.
The land already had a commercial zoning, but it was "C-1." The developer needed a rezoning to "C-2," which allows drive-throughs and car washes.
The project also has had noise mitigation conditions added to quiet down the car wash, said Todd Smith, a consultant for the developer.
And the traffic to the site would run at different times than traffic to Stockdale High, which is across White Lane from the development.
Neighbor Blain Franzen said the drive-through restaurants could be open until 1 a.m., and would generate a 25-decibel noise level, which would be like having a mosquito buzzing in your ear all day.
"That's not this area," he said. Instead, it should be on nearby Gosford Road, he said.
Smith said that by allowing some commercial in the area, the project will actually help deal with air quality because residents won't have to drive two or three miles for the services.
If the builder wants to have a drive-through and a car wash, Franzen said, he should look for an area that's already zoned for it.
Franzen said when he moved to Bakersfield he wanted to have a pot-bellied pig, so he looked for a property where pot-bellied pigs are allowed, rather than buying land and then asking to be rezoned.
Franzen's daughter Olivia said she is also opposed, in large part because of reverse beepers on trucks that come to drop off equipment.
"I like my sleep," she said. "I like the C-1 (zoning). There's no drive-through, no beep beep beep."
Councilman Harold Hanson said the site plan will have to go back to the Planning Commission, so neighbors can have their concerns addressed then.
Councilwoman Sue Benham was the sole dissenting vote. She said she believes residents should be able to count on the zoning, and she didn't support drive-throughs in a small neighborhood shopping center, especially since the city council has often said it wants pedestrian-friendly development.
"I feel very strongly that this is not the right development for the site," she said.