City of Fillmore

The special joint meeting of the Fillmore City Council and Planning Commission held on Wednesday, April 3, 2013 began with a swearing in of Mark Greenwall and Diane McCall as new Commissioners. But the majority of the meeting was spent listening to a presentation by Rincon Consultants regarding the Chevron project known as Fillmore Works. This was only a discussion and dialog session, with no decisions made, on ways to move forward with the project that will take a number of years to complete. The project requires zoning changes and annexing 52 acres of land outside the City limits. Currently there are 13 parcels that the developers would like changed to 23. The new parcels would include; eight for commercial highway use, nine for manufacturing/industrial, five for public facilities and one for open space.

Last February Rincon Consultants, a company very familiar with Fillmore, was awarded the contract to represent Fillmore and oversee the project. Rincon has worked on a number of projects in town that include the Fillmore Business Park Master Plan, North Fillmore Specific Plan, General Plan, Fillmore Townhomes, Santa Clara River Levee Project, Fillmore Waste Water Treatment Plant Construction Monitoring, and Fillmore Contract Planning Services. For this project the company is under contract by the City of Fillmore but funded by Texaco Downstream Properties (a subsidiary of Chevron) at a cost not to exceed $190,573, which includes a 20% contingency fee.
There is a great deal of concern by some Fillmore residents as to the safe use of the property due to previous contamination; there is also the impact on adjacent neighborhoods and an elementary school. The project sits on the east end of Fillmore north of Highway 126. Five acres of the site is within City limits with another 50 acres within the City Urban Restriction Boundary (CURB) which gives Fillmore influence on what can be done with the area and its use.

A portion of the site is contaminated due to its history as an oil refinery from 1915 to 1950 where eight above-ground storage tanks were left in place. In 1952 it became a crude oil pumping station with connecting lines to surrounding oil fields. This area became known as the Pacific Coast Pipeline. In 2002 the pumping station operations stopped and much of what was there was dismantled with the last storage tank removed in August 2004.

Today there is still an excess of Benzene concentrations in certain areas and an ongoing clean up supervised by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). There are signs of improvement, but the cleanup is considered to take many years and according to Jasch Janowicz, Senior Program Manager with Rincon, "A fault line goes right through the site."

When asked by Councilman Douglas Tucker what safety protections are being put in place to address these issues, Janowicz responded that they are not at that point yet. Councilman Manuel Minjares replied, "We're looking for answers to questions we haven't addressed yet....the EPA study hasn't been done yet." Mayor Rick Neal commented that lead and PH levels are to be capped and there is a need to identify additional risk. Janowicz mentioned putting concrete caps on top of the ongoing cleanup areas where roads would be placed over them. There was talk of how the area was being dug up and cleanup being done to which Tucker suggested they dig more than the three feet mentioned to a depth of at least six to eight feet due to the area containing so much river rock.

The project proposes building 293,000 square feet of commercial buildings and 307,000 square feet of manufacturing, and would add a 100 foot wide landscaping buffer between the proposed industrial/manufacturing land use and the back yards of homes in the area. The construction could take up to 15 years and would be done in phases as needed for more development of commercial/industrial space. Tucker commented that he would like commercial/retail and mixed-use on the highway.

Since the project would be the first area of Fillmore seen by those traveling west there were a couple of ideas given out to establish an eastern gateway. The gateway area is a slopped 15 acre hillside, proposed to be open space, and possibly dedicated to the City or held by a land conservancy. Other areas mentioned were a 2.58 acre area that is leased out by the Lions Club Scout Foundation. It is now being used by the Boy Scouts of America along with construction of a raised passageway over Pole Creek for pedestrian egress and regress, or just having it at-grade level. McCall stated that her concern with City stewardship is that it may be too restrictive. Councilman Eduardo Gonzalez responded that he would like to see recreational with consideration of a picnic area, to which Commissioner Robert Smith responded that if a park is put in, there would be restrooms and the need for safety to over see it. All agreed there needs to be discussions of both the pros and cons of City ownership.

Janowicz mentioned having direct access from Highway 126 or possibly locating a signal light further east to be more in-line with the El Dorado Mobilehome Park which would help ease the residents’ exit. Commissioner Christopher J. Hoy is a resident of El Dorado and welcomed the consideration of park residents. Also mentioned was traffic entering and exiting through residential neighborhoods, but McCall stated she wanted access to the project off the highway and not through neighborhoods. Tucker suggested considering car access and no trucks allowed in the neighborhood areas.

Some of the Commissioners' and Councils' concerns were the increased noise, dust and light pollution, asking that lights be directed downward. Another concern was whether to have a Master Plan or a Specific Plan such as the Business Park has. After a brief discussion the Council seemed to prefer a Master Plan to which Councilman Minjares responded that a Master Plan would be easier to explain to the public. Everyone agreed but wanted a clearer description and asked that they be given the pros and cons of each before making a decision.

The Commission and Council asked that three items be brought back in greater detail; Specific Plan vs. Master Plan, types of industrial use and transportation/access to the project. Tucker added that there needs to be a discussion on Pole Creek flooding and Neal then added that the Boys Club having a place is an important item also.

Powers ended the presentation by saying the Initial Study/Notice of Preparation will be completed by the end of the month.

As the meeting continued with other business Tucker mentioned that the City is considering putting the sewer bill onto the owner's property taxes and during Public Comments Julie Longoria addressed the Commission/Council about the speeding traffic near her home on the 400 block of Mountain View. She went on to say she is concerned with children and animals being injured and asked if they would consider putting speed bumps. She suggested that maybe the local residents could pitch in to help with the cost of getting it done. Then she added, "They will not stop, they have no concern if they hit you."