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City staffers oppose Target plan
| Monday, May 5 2008 6:11 PM
Last Updated: Monday, May 5 2008 6:14 PM
Bakersfield city staffers are opposing a controversial plan to allow a Target store at the Shops at River Walk, and recommending the City Council do the same.
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You also can watch the meeting live on KGOV. An agenda and background information can be found under the city government link at bakersfieldcity.us.
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The council will take public comment Wednesday but is not expected to make a decision. Instead, the council will likely wait until May 21 so city staff and Castle & Cooke can work out parking issues. The council will also take comment at the May 21 meeting.
Parking isn’t what’s making city staff unhappy. It’s the plan to put a big box store so close to the park — which Bakersfield City Manager Alan Tandy calls “disappointing at best.”
Developer Castle & Cooke wants the Bakersfield City Council to raise the cap on store size at River Walk to 140,000 square feet. The current 100,000-square-foot limit wouldn’t allow the Target the developer wants to lure.
Tandy is recommending the council not lift the cap.
When the shopping center was approved in 2001, it was pitched as a “high-end” development free of big box stores. But now the developer wants to allow a big box to anchor the center.
“The request to add the big box and to lose the unique and upscale vision is disappointing at best,” Tandy wrote in a memo to the council. “Staff members have received many comments from citizens who share in the ‘disappointment.’ Those who are disappointed may later blame the City for poor planning.”
The store would be on the east side of the entrance to the Park at River Walk.
“This dramatic change not only affects the appearance and ambiance of the area, but raises safety and traffic concerns as well,” wrote Dianne Hoover, the city’s recreation and parks director. “Large delivery trucks will be sharing the same park entrance as families that are coming for a day of picnicking and relaxation.”
But having a Target nearby would make picnicking nicer, according to one of the form letters the city received from several residents.
“It would be awesome to have a Target Department store close by the park especially if we forget a necessity while picnicking at the park,” said the letter, which the city received from five different residents.
“I understand that the store will not be located near any homes, and will help bring other badly needed shops to the center,” said another letter, this one sent by 31 neighbors, including seven workers at a single company. The line echoes Castle & Cooke’s point that the upscale retail it’s trying to bring needs an anchor tenant to bring life to the shopping center.
Castle & Cooke officials were not available for comment Monday.
The increase in size was approved 4-0 by the city’s planning commission after three members bowed out due to conflicts of interest.
Wednesday’s City Council meeting will also kick off the public budget process. Tandy will present his draft budget to the council. The council will meet to review the budget May 12.