Well, we’ve certainly had quite a splash in recent days with the news that a mystery company, coined “Project X” by the city, has plans to develop a one million square foot distribution center at the West Ridge Business Park (owned by Ken and Larry Buehner). Of course, there’s lots of speculation regarding who this mystery company is and why things are being keep so tightly under wraps about their intentions. And while the initial reaction to a new business that could bring 1,500 jobs to our area may be positive, there are no shortage of questions that need to be answered.
A special meeting was hastily scheduled on January 11 and was then just as quickly cancelled. News accounts seem to conflict in terms of the manner in which this new development will occur. As of today, it remains unclear when the mystery company will be unveiled and what exactly the city is planning to give away to lure this big fish.
A lot of speculation is circulating around the mystery company being Amazon, given the deal they cut with Gov. Brown to establish a major presense in the state in exchange for deferring a measure to tax online sales. But there are many other possibilities. One includes a Walmart distribution center, which makes a lot of sense when you consider the recent groundbreaking for the SuperWalmart and the fact that Walmart has been searching for a distribution center location in the Valley. Also consider that on the same night that the Council approved the SuperWalmart at a special meeting, they came back for a one-item “regular” meeting at which they approved what was known as the Patterson Logistics Center, a proposed development which includes the Patterson Airport. There were plenty of questions at the time regarding the environmental review (such as it was) conducted for that project, but it was nonetheless approved by the Council with no fanfare.
As to the questions about this project, these are just for starters. First, it was reported that the city would receive no tax revenues for the development. Why is that exactly? Is that because it would involve Amazon or another internet-based service that is currently exempt from sales taxes? There are also conflicting reports about whether, or the extent to which, the city is providing incentives to lure this huge project. The agenda for the cancelled special meeting indicated that the Council would be considering various incentives, but subsequent media reports said that there would be no incentives provided. Then, in Modesto Bee reported that the company is seeking “credit” for $1.7 million in improvements to Park Center Drive. Does that mean that the mystery company and the landowners (i.e., the Buehners) are expecting the city to pick up the bill for the road improvements? Or does it mean they’ll be for the improvements in lieu of development impact fees that they would otherwise pay to the city? Either way, this could be a pretty huge giveaway.
The other unspoken and/or unclarified issues involve the impacts that this type of business will have on our community. A distribution center of this size will generate a huge number of truck (and possibly train) trips in our city, with the related impacts on our air quality, our traffic congestion and on the condition of the roads themselves. There’s been no environmental assessment of a specific project of this magnitude, and yet the city is reporting that the company wants to begin construction immediately and be operational by this fall. And let’s not forget that Councilwoman Smith and the other seeming proponents of the Project X distribution facility have been fighting West Park tooth and nail, basing most of their arguments on the traffic and environmental impacts that West Park would have on our city. So apparently it’s ok to create gridlock in our own city limits but not if it’s coming from a project south of town.
Another question involves why this has been kept quiet for so long. Clearly, a project of this magnitude didn’t just materialize overnight. When the Irrigator first reported the story earlier this week, they indicated that the company could close escrow as early as today. It’s obvious that something’s been in the works for a long time for the project to be this close to closing escrow.
Clearly, there will be much more to come on this breaking story, and the Irritator team will do our best to keep track of developments and piece together the story behind the story. Stay tuned Patterson.
Stop Sprawl said,
January 13, 2012 @ 11:18 PM
Don’t think it is a Walmart Distribution Center. The City of Merced approved a large Walmart Merced Distribution Center in Merced. It might be tied up in litigation, but I can’t imagine Walmart would need a large distribution center in both Merced and Patterson.
I probably would be more excited with something other than a distribution center. Where are all the R&D and manufacturing companies?
fuerte said,
April 17, 2012 @ 7:33 PM
Good jobs coming our way…but shouldn’t we direct at least a little attention to Tweedledee Smith and Tweedledum Farinha, who have allowed attorney’s to milk us for what amounts to two…..yes that’s two full-time average salaries. Smith doesn’t care because she hasn’t worked for a living since Tiger’s Den was slanging working man specials.