Comment
Newman takes on board over air base plan
last updated: October 25, 2007 03:12:22 AM
External Links
The Top Ten
Most Emailed Stories
- Dressing alike everyday habit for this couple
- Priest clarifies meaning of Obama letter
- Oh boy, the Petersons ... again
- Modesto pastor: Consider confession if you voted for Obama
- Vandals wreak 'devastating' havoc at Modesto cemetery
- Big Brother was listening: Salida robbery thwarted
- Gunman holds up Modesto store
- Pickup race ends in crash
- Victim is critical; police seek help
- Sonora woman hurt in off-road accident
The Top Ten are the ten most-read stories, updated hourly.
NEWMAN -- The City Council is preparing a letter of opposition to the proposed industrial park at the former Crows Landing air facility, denouncing its impact on the West Side and chastising the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors for not engaging local leaders in the decision-making process.
"The city of Newman remains unconvinced the board will protect the values and quality of life of west Stanislaus County residents and communities during the redevelopment of the Crows Landing Air Base," a draft copy of the letter states.
It continues, "Previous board decisions and the failure of the master developer to engage local leadership and incorporate them into the development process reinforces the belief that this project is based more upon politics than job development and sound planning."
It is the second time the council has spelled out its opposition to the project headed by PCCP West Park's Gerry Kamilos. Kamilos is negotiating with Stanislaus County to build a 4,500-acre industrial and business park surrounding the Crows Landing air facility, with a short-haul rail link to the Port of Oakland.
Newman's council, as well as Patterson's City Council, sent similar letters of opposition to the Board of Supervisors in February before the supervisors decided on a 3-2 vote to go with the West Park proposal.
The council did not vote to send the letter at its Tuesday night meeting because Councilman Ted Kelly was absent and the council wants to present a unanimous front, said City Manager Michael Holland. It will return to the council Nov. 13.
It lists a number of concerns about the Crows Landing pro- posal, including its impact on the West Side, aesthetics, size of the project and related urban growth. Newman has invested a lot of money into revamping its downtown corridor, the letter said, and having a rail yard nearby will affect the city negatively and deter future investment.
"The city will not support a plan that transforms west Stanislaus County into a rail yard with stockpiles of graffiti-laden storage containers and railcars," the letter said.
Bee staff writer Christina Salerno can be reached at csalerno@modbee.com or 238-4574.
Modbee.com is pleased to be able to offer its users the opportunity to make comments and hold conversations online. However, the interactive nature of the internet makes it impracticable for our staff to monitor each and every posting.
Since Modbee.com does not control user submitted statements, we cannot promise that readers will not occasionally find offensive or inaccurate comments posted on our website. In addition, we remind anyone interested in making an online comment that responsibility for statements posted lies with the person submitting the comment, not The Modesto Bee.
If you find a comment offensive, clicking on the exclamation icon will flag the comment for review by the administrators, we are counting on the good judgment of all our readers to help us.
Copyright © 2008, The Modesto Bee.
