But council members and the audience of about 100 residents appeared unsatisfied, saying they have continuing concerns about the loss of valuable farmland, pollution and the impact of a short-haul rail line that would run through the community.
Kamilos is negotiating with the county to expand the former 1,527-acre Crows Landing Naval Air Station, southeast of Patterson, into a 4,560-acre industrial center. The project is centered around a rail line that would connect the air facility to the Port of Oakland.
Kamilos was in Patterson at the request of the council, which insisted last month that the Sacramento developer make a presentation in person before the city would assist him with efforts to mitigate concerns about traffic and the environment.
“As you know, there have been continuing allegations by those opposed to or unfamiliar with our project that there is an undisclosed intent by PCCP West Park to ultimately develop housing within the 4,800-acre West Park project,” Kamilos said in his pledge, which he read aloud to the council. “Unfortunately, there is no way to refute that type of baseless allegation, other than to deny it.”
Councilwoman Annette Smith said that the pledge didn’t address Patterson’s primary concern about trains running through the city.
In response to questions from the council, Kamilos said the rail would be operational in 2011 with two trains a day, each with 30 to 50 cars. After five years, the number of trains would increase to three or four, and by 2021 the rail would run about six trains daily.
“We’re not talking 20 trains, as some people have said,” Kamilos said.
Smith asked Kamilos how he planned to transport 800,000 containers a day to the Port of Oakland, as he previously told the Board of Supervisors.
“You can’t bring that many containers on one to two trains a day, or five to six trains. When are we going to see the true data and see the true scope of the project? ... Those numbers don’t match,” Smith said.
Other council members raised concerns about the trains’ impact on the downtown core, traffic congestion and irreparable harm to farmland.
“We already have a lot of jobs here -- the oldest, most natural job is farming. There is nothing anyone can do to mitigate this rich land. I am concerned about bulldozers and concrete over our precious resources,” Councilman Dominic Farinha said.
Kamilos said his company is dedicated to having a one-to-one mitigation effort for farmland so every acre that’s developed would have a corresponding acre that would lessen the impact.
The rail line also would help farmers, Kamilos said, because it would allow them to export their products more easily.
Kamilos said he plans to hold meetings with the public throughout the summer to listen to concerns, and will return to the council with more details about the project in September.
Ron Swift, a member of the West Side-Patterson Alliance for Community and Environment, a group of residents opposed to Kamilos’ plan, said he wasn’t impressed by the pledge. He said his group will continue to fight the proposal.
Other West Side residents also didn’t appear to be satisfied with Kamilos’ responses to the council.
“I was hoping for truthful answers, but I didn’t hear any,” said Patterson resident Kenny Buehner after the meeting.
“I don’t think he has the answers himself,” said Ed Maring, a farmer on the West Side who said he was opposed to the project because it would harm farmland. “We should be farming, not developing.”
Bee staff writer Christina Salerno can be reached at csalerno@modbee.com or 238-4574.
WHAT IT MEANS
• ISSUE: Developer Gerry Kamilos went before the Patterson City Council and a crowd estimated at 100 to assure residents that there will not be houses tied to his Crows Landing project.
• WHY IT’S IMPORTANT: The City Council said last month it would not assist Kamilos on the project until he delivered a public presentation in person.
• WHAT’S NEXT: Kamilos plans to hold meetings with the public this summer before going back to the council in September with more details.
For past coverage of the Crows Landing development, go to www.modbee.com/reports/crowslanding.
