LOIS HENRY: Sins of the past plaguing us now
| Saturday, Oct 31 2009 12:30 PM
Last Updated Saturday, Oct 31 2009 03:07 PM
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A little planning nightmare coming before the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday should serve as a cautionary tale for anyone who works in planning, is a politician, a developer, a business owner of any kind, a homeowner, or simply wants a home in a neighborhood they like.
This one, relatively small issue neatly encapsulates our biggest problem -- not thinking ahead.
We've done a poor job of that over the years (in the city and county) with some pretty necessary items. Roads and sewers come to mind, but also compatibility.
The problem supervisors face on Tuesday is they either have to tell hundreds of residents in northwest Bakersfield to suck it up and deal with a noisy, dust-belching concrete crushing and recycling plant plopped in their midst.
Or, they have tell the guy proposing the plant that stupid planning decisions over the last 30 years mean you can't trust zoning laws in this community and that, essentially, he's gonna get hosed.
The County Planning Commission, in my view, really passed the buck on this in August when it approved a two-year conditional use permit for the plant. Neither side is happy with that decision; both are appealing it to Supervisors.
A two-year permit is not an answer.
For the business owner, Mark Polhamus, it means he has to do just as much work (more given all the conditions on the permit) to open his business, but won't know whether he can continue after two years. What bank is going to front him a loan on that basis? What businesses will want to contract with him if he might not be around in two years?
For residents concerned about traffic, possibly toxic dust and noise, it would mean two years of frustration and uncertainty about the safety and value of their neighborhoods.
I would also point out that the intersection nearest the proposed plant, Hageman Road and Santa Fe Way, with the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad tracks thrown in just for fun, is already a major problem. It's level of service is an F now and a major underpass is being planned there. Adding 10 extra truck trips a day is just foolhardy.
I don't blame Polhamus for this situation. Nor do I blame the neighbors.
In fact, I give a loud, prolonged raspberry to Planning Commissioners Leticia Perez and Chris Babcock for lecturing residents when this came up at their July meeting, telling them they should have done their homework and seen what the zoning was before moving to that area.
PUH-leeze!
The land in question was zoned heavy industrial in 1982.
Homes on the west were approved (by the county) and built in the 1990s, homes on the east were approved (by the city) and built in 2005, when Polhamus also bought his property.
And they were approved right next to the heavy industrial without a thought to creating a buffer section of light industrial or enhancing roads or anything.
Talk about not doing your homework. Maybe someone in say, the city or county planning departments, on the city or county planning commissions or the a member of the City Council or Board of Supervisors could have stuck a hand up and said, "Hey, looks like we're approving another mess here, guys."
This same thing has happened in other areas of town so it's a train wreck that easily could have been avoided here.
"This definitely shows the weakness in our process," Supervisor Mike Maggard told me. "We step into a set of facts, make a decision and step out again."
Same with the City Council.
The General Plan, of course, is supposed to give planners a more comprehensive view. But again, people go to the separate bodies for plan amendments (hardly any are refused, by the way), neither side really informs the other and away we go.
"We're better than we were 10 years ago," Maggard said. "Hopefully we'll get it right with the new General Plan update."
I ain't holding my breath.
In the meantime, Supervisors should deny the conditional use permit and work with Polhamus to find a more suitable location. Traffic alone is enough for a denial. They should also take staff's advice (which was also given to, but ignored by. the Planning Commission) and down zone the land so these problems don't crop up again.
Relying on 30-year-old zoning without acknowledging the reality on the ground is a cop-out, frankly. And this temporary "solution" benefits no one. It only pushes the problem into the future.
We've done that long enough.
Opinions expressed in this column are those of Lois Henry, not The Bakersfield Californian. Her column appears Wednesdays and Sundays. Comment at people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/noholdsbarred, call her at 395-7373 or e-mail lhenry@bakersfield.com
