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E-mail StoryCouncil approves Target for Shops at River Walk
| Wednesday, May 21 2008 8:42 PM
Last Updated: Thursday, May 22 2008 7:13 AM
A Target is on the way for Stockdale Highway after it was approved by the Bakersfield City Council Wednesday.
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But a WinCo slated for Panama Lane and Ashe Road ran into opposition and was delayed.
The Target slated for the Shops at River Walk will be 140,000 square feet by itself. The Target needed a special dispensation from the council, because the development had earlier been limited to 100,000 square feet per store.
But size isn't the real issue, said Councilman David Couch.
"The location of this particular project is right next to one of the nicest assets the city has, and that's the Park at River Walk," he noted.
Two weeks ago, City Manager Alan Tandy told the council that he opposed the project because of its location next to the park entrance. But since then, the city and developer Castle & Cooke came to an agreement that includes widening Buena Vista Road.
"It's a very difficult decision. We think it's a better plan than what you had last time," Tandy told the council. And, he said, it's better than having nothing on the site at all.
Public comment was exclusively in favor of the store during the public hearing Wednesday, although calls and e-mail from the public ran 9 to 1 against the proposal, said Assistant City Clerk Roberta Gafford.
Castle & Cooke wanted the increase permitted to bring a Target because the high-end retailers it originally wanted don't see Bakersfield as desirable enough.
Castle & Cooke was unable to get one concession — the council agreed to require the company to pay for all the improvements to Buena Vista Road. Castle & Cooke had hoped the city would pay for the improvements on the side of the street bordering the park.
The WinCo was opposed by a group calling itself Citizens for Responsible Growth, which sent a binder of objections to the city on Tuesday and then sent San Francisco lawyer John Farrow to the meeting.
Farrow said the environmental impact report on the project was flawed, with bad analysis of traffic, possible soil contamination, noise and urban decay.
"In sum, there's a host of defects with this project, and we ask that you not approve it tonight," Farrow said.
Councilman Zack Scrivner asked who is paying Farrow, but Farrow said the arrangements between him and his clients are "confidential and fundamentally irrelevant."
Mary Jane Wilson, president of consulting firm WZI Inc., asked the council to delay the project so that it could respond to Farrow's comments.
In other action, the council voted to have staff work with Kern County staff to consider hiring a consultant to analyze options for metro Bakersfield's solid waste system.
Daphne Harley, director of Kern County's Waste Management Department, said the county already has a consultant to study its system, and the Kern County Board of Supervisors asked to use that same consultant to save some money.
Councilman Harold Hanson said he didn't see why the issue was so urgent that it couldn't wait for this fall's joint meeting of the City Council and Board of Supervisors.
Councilman Ken Weir said he was not ready to move forward Wednesday until city staff had a chance to learn more about the consultant and the process.
At committee meetings, Weir had pushed for a study of a single proposal because he didn't want to add months to a study by opening it up for more proposals.
Councilwoman Sue Benham said the council was delaying yet another opportunity to move forward on solid waste after claiming it wanted city-county cooperation and swift action.
"Put me out of my misery," Benham said. "If you people aren't serious about this, let's do the blue cart program." But Benham ended up voting with the rest of the council to have city staff come up with a contract.