Health and Community Sold to Jacobsen/Brown

The City Council approved the most recent plan of Jacobsen Family Holdings and Jack Brown of Stater Brothers. The plan includes the building of the "Town Center" in phases or in a piece meal steps. This was one of the justifications for not allowing the property to naturally develop over time as the City wanted to avoid Piece Meal Development. That aside, the plans were approved in spite of citizen concerns which were limited to 3 minutes.

Cindy Bidney tried to explain to the City Council that the Planning Commission nor the Jacobsen Family Holdings addressed her and her neighbors concerns about the affects of the development on their quality of life in the adjacent residential area south of the planned development.

Projecting an increase in sales tax it is reasonable to assume an increased number of delivery trucks. Delivery trucks produce pollution of both gaseous and particulate qualities. Both of these pollutants increase or cause several medical problems, including, Heart Attacks, Lung Cancer, Cancer of other Organs, and Asthma. The EIR said these pollutants were inevitable with the development of the property. The City Council voted to accept this assessment of the acceptability of the risks due to the increased pollution.

Citizens also raise the issue of noise and light pollution. The block wall along La Pax and the taller noise screen of Block at the loading dock were intended by design to mitigate this. The visual impact of the block wall became a concern. The landscape plan was not presented to the Citizens of the adjoining neighborhood nor to the City Council. Yet, the City Council voted to approve the plans as presented. The assurances they were most concerned with was who was going to maintain the plants. The plan was approved with a notation that the developer get together with the neighbors to try to resolve the plant issues.

There is no requirement for the developer to limit the time the trucks run their motors. There is no requirement that fork lifts be electric. There are extended hours of loading and unloading. There are hours available for delivery when school children will be walking to and from school.

Assume that the Stater's meets expected sales. Assume that the current location also finds a tenant that will produce the similar amount of pollutants currant operations produce. GT City Council has voted to possibly triple the amount of pollution produced by the RDA's activities. The Carbon Foot Print of GT has increased significantly. The direct impact on the health of GT Citizens may well be the price paid for a bigger Stater Brothers and the removal of large trees and potential farm or ranch houses along Barton Rd. That space could have been an Agriculture Preserve rather than a Retail Smog Production Facility.

It was clear that the Citizens were shorted again in their ability to communicate their concerns and ideas to the City Council. The 3 minute rule was not applied to the Jacobsen's or the City Staff during their Q and A or Presentations. Citizens however, were not allowed to make full presentation of their concerns regarding the development. This a development that has been aided by Redevelopment Agency Funds and Management of the Community. Citizens should have had a equal footing at the podium and not been limited to 3 minutes. The City Council should have been on the record with their refusal to have the issues resolved item by item.

Jacobsen has not replaced the housing element lost by the removal of the mobile home park on Michigan Street. He has tried to off load land he intended for that purpose by selling it to the City of Grand Terrace for a Park near the Grand Terrace Mobile Home Park. Grand Terrace will still be short housing for low income families and individuals who are not Seniors.