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Sierra Club questions project
Environmental report on expansion draws opposition
| Thursday, Oct 5 2006 11:15 PM
Last Updated: Thursday, Oct 5 2006 11:22 PM
The four items on the city Planning Commission's agenda all hit opposition Thursday.
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Despite an air conditioning issue that left the chambers balmy, none of the disagreements grew too heated.
West Ming
The seven commissioners took comments from the public on the "adequacy" of an environmental report that is usually done before areas are developed.
The report on this huge Castle & Cooke expansion assesses the impact a development will have on traffic, air quality and animal habitats, among other things.
The project is a 3.4-square-mile development that aims to put 6,500 homes west of Buena Vista Road, north of Pacheco Road, south of Ming Avenue and east of the proposed West Beltway alignment.
It is an expansion of the Seven Oaks development.
Gordon Nipp, Sierra Club representative, said the development would introduce damaging amounts of cars to area streets. He also questioned the need for so many new homes, especially when they would be built on prime agricultural land.
A duo representing Crimson Resource Management were concerned the huge project would keep them from exploiting their oil and mineral rights in the area.
Public comments will be addressed in the final environmental report, which is due to be in front of the commission at its Dec. 21 meeting.
Old River Ranch
A vote on a parks and trails plan for Old River Ranch was postponed until the next commission meeting after it ran into opposition from a nearby homeowner.
That large project -- generally bounded by Panama Lane, Gosford Road, Taft Highway and South Allen Road -- proposes to add 6,000 homes to a 2.8-square-mile parcel of land.
Barbara Grimm-Marshall and her family are concerned because the trail plan for the development includes a trail alongside the north side of Berkshire Road, lawyer Thomas Fallgatter said.
Grimm-Marshall is the co-owner of Grimmway Farms, the world's largest grower, packer and shipper of fresh, processed and frozen carrots.
The family lives on 45 acres at the northeast corner of Berkshire and Buena Vista roads, and they want the proposed public trail to be moved. They want it on the south side of Berkshire Road so that it doesn't intrude onto their property.
Commissioners agreed to a continuance so that the parties involved can try to reach a compromise or alternate trail plan.
Signs, signs
Commissioners unanimously recommended approval of a new posting ordinance. It would require developers to post a 4-by-8-foot sign on their property at least 20 days but no more than 60 days before a public hearing.
The City Council must approve the ordinance.
The signs would be "inconvenient and cumbersome," complained Cassie Daniel, executive vice president of the Building Industry Association of Kern County.
Although he had some questions about whether the city should place the requirement on builders rather than themselves, Commissioner Russell Johnson said the ordinance was a "great idea" that would help the public be informed of development.
Two-story problems
Fourteen neighbors of a future development showed up to protest the development's plans to build two-story homes next to their one-story homes.
"It's an invasion of privacy," said Daniel Curran, a nearby resident.
The commissioners granted another two-week continuance so the developers could consider building only one-story houses in a certain section of their tract map.
Old River Ranch
Size: 2.8 square miles
Scope: 6,000 homes, 1,000 multi-family residential units, 900,000 square feet of retail and office development
Location: generally bounded by Panama Lane, Gosford Road, Taft Highway and South Allen Road
Status: approved by City Council and Planning Commission in late 2005
West Ming
(also known as Seven Oaks West expansion):
Size: 3.4 square miles
Scope: 6,500 homes, 478,000 square feet of commercial space, 331,200 square feet of town center commercial and mixed use, and 1,135,000 square feet of special uses such as light industrial and oil extraction
Location: west of Buena Vista Road, north of Pacheco Road, south of Ming Avenue and east of the proposed West Beltway alignment
Status: Plans unveiled mid-2006; environmental report went before the Planning Commission on Thursday.