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Russell Johnson becomes city Planning Commission chairman

By JENNY SHEARER, Californian staff writer
e-mail: jshearer@bakersfield.com | Thursday, May 1 2008 7:44 PM

Last Updated: Friday, May 2 2008 7:13 AM

Russell Johnson became the chairman of the Bakersfield Planning Commission Thursday, and Tom McGinnis will serve as vice chairman.

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Photo by John Harte

Planning Commissioner Russell Johnson triumphantly leaves the City Council chambers Wednesday with his wife, Susanne, after Councilman Ken Weir's attempt to remove him failed.

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Commissioner Murray Tragish nominated both men.

Both will serve in these roles on the advisory body for the next year. But because Johnson was not at Thursday’s meeting, McGinnis took the helm.

Johnson, whom Bakersfield City Councilman Ken Weir tried to get voted off the commission last month, replaces Chairman Ted Blockley, who remains a member.

In other business, commissioners approved:

• A zone change that could bring a CVS Pharmacy to Stockdale Highway near California Avenue. The store would be west of an existing In-N-Out Burger.

Tragish asked a city traffic engineer if the store’s placement would add to traffic at Stockdale and California, one of the city’s busiest intersections.

Steve Walker said the store’s addition would add to traffic delays on Stockdale.

“In my view, this is a very well-thought-out location,” he said.

• A zone change so The Old River Land Co. LLC can add 21 light industrial lots on land near the city’s Wastewater Treatment Plant No. 3 in the southwest. The proposed lots are generally on the northeast corner of McCutchen and Ashe roads.

• A menu of proposed architectural samples for homes in the future Old River Ranch master-planned community in southwest Bakersfield. The 1,800-acre development that’s generally near between Buena Vista and Old Farm roads, on the north and south sides of McCutchen Road, may feature 6,000 single-family homes and 1,000 multi-family units.

• Two-year extensions on maps for the following projects:

— RM Development Corp.’s bid to add 140 lots on the north side of Taft Highway, east and west of Akers Road.

— Palma Homes Inc.’s plans for 67 homes on the northwest corner of Hosking Avenue and Wible Road.

— McMillin Arlington Park LLC and its bid to build 68 homes on the south side of East Hosking Avenue, near South Union Avenue.