A jumbo industrial complex planned near Crows Landing could take advantage of a new state law that fast-tracks environmental lawsuits against large projects.
Developer Gerry Kamilos and some government officials say Assembly Bill 900, drafted to help proposed stadiums and convention centers, might also benefit West Park if someone challenges environmental studies due in June.
The environmental impact report should predict farmland loss and traffic risks caused by long trains, and lay out alternatives.
Patterson and a citizens group previously sued, saying Kamilos should have produced an environmental impact report before Stanislaus County leaders gave his project a nod over a rival proposal favored by most West Siders. Kamilos prevailed in court, but the lawsuit delayed West Park by more than a year, he said.
Gov. Jerry Brown three weeks ago signed AB 900, saying some reform is needed to spark an economic recovery. Companion legislation was designed to benefit football stadium plans in downtown Los Angeles, and AB 900 could smooth the way for a Sacramento Kings Arena, a San Francisco 49ers stadium in Santa Clara, an Oakland A's stadium in San Jose or similar projects in San Diego.
The law requires approval by the governor and proj- ects must meet green "leadership" standards, produce permanent, decent-wage jobs and feature investments of at least $100 million.
West Park would redevelop a former Navy air base and generate 17,000 jobs, and includes an 850-acre solar farm component to meet those criteria, Kamilos said.
"It's going to help create a lot of jobs," he said.
Kamilos hopes to gives valley growers more Pacific Rim export opportunities by running local produce on short-haul trains to the Port of Oakland. Consumer goods from Asia could come the other way, unloading onto trucks at an inland port at West Park.
"That project will have global significance," said Bill Bassitt, chief executive officer of the Stanislaus Economic Development and Workforce Alliance. "Something of that magnitude — international trade, import-export — you couldn't ask for a better scenario in terms of a job creator."
Keith Boggs, a county deputy executive officer, said: "We're in an interesting, tragic economy and we need to do some things to get the ball rolling and bring jobs to the community. (The base) is a mile from I-5, it's gorgeous, large and there is so much industrial opportunity. This might be an opportunity to test AB 900."
Bill tightens lawsuit timelines
David Pettit, senior attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council, noted that AB 900 does not bar legal challenges, but tightens timelines for resolving them.
The law allows qualifying developers to skip over local courts, where trials can take a year or more, instead starting at courts of appeal with the state Supreme Court the only recourse for a losing side. Also, appellate courts would have to issue a ruling within 175 days.
Project opponents over the years have turned to California Environmental Quality Act provisions to block or delay developments, or to focus attention on lessening impacts.
"There is no CEQA exemption nor any exemption from litigation, so project opponents will still be able to sue," Pettit said in an e-mail.
But the process seems unclear because appellate courts don't receive evidence; they just decide whether local courts have issued correct rulings.
"What they've done is to pretend they've found a way to resolve California's unemployment by saying we're going to reduce the ability to protect our environment," said Kathryn Phillips, Sierra Club California executive director.
Developers take lawsuit threats seriously, noted Central Valley expert Michael Teitz in a 2005 Public Policy Institute of California paper on CEQA reform. However, "the actual number of lawsuits is low," the paper says.
Kamilos said West Park did not lobby for AB 900, which emerged in the legislative session's final days.
"The more I work on West Park, the more I see the need," Kamilos said. "There aren't many projects that can create this many jobs."
Bee staff writer Garth Stapley can be reached at gstapley@modbee.com or (209) 578-2390.
RSS
E-Mail
Print
reprint or license
