A developer's new traffic impact study for a hotly debated gasoline station/convenience store project Highway 101 in Redwood Valley claims the peak traffic will likely be only one-quarter of earlier estimates.
The analysis, released Friday, and Caltrans' demands for a right turn lane off the freeway are sure to be significant points of contention at a county Board of Supervisors hearing on May 7 regarding a use permit for the 10- pump station project. The project has widespread opposition in Redwood Valley, leading to developer calls for at least one sympathetic board member to recuse himself after publicly questioning the proposal.
In a new twist, Haji Alam, the president of the station proponent Faizan Corp. of Ukiah, declared Friday that if the county board denies a use permit, he will consider selling the site to a local tribe that has expressed interest in the freeway frontage property.
"Neighbors will have no say in what the tribe can build, and there will be no sales tax dollars or property tax for
the county," warned Alam.
Christine Boyd, a member of the Redwood Valley Municipal Advisory Council, said Friday that she was not
surprised by Alam's threat.
"It's either his way or the highway," said Boyd. Boyd said Redwood Valley residents are undeterred. "Our opposition is loud and clear, and we are prepared to show that to the board at the upcoming hearing," vowed Boyd.
The project site is on a commercial strip along the east side of the Highway 101 freeway and below the valley floor. It is a mixed cluster of businesses with a history of struggling economically. Alam and his supporters argue that the new station will serve as an 'anchor' for the strip development. Boyd, however, said valley residents fear noise from traffic and big rigs will disrupt the lifestyles of nearby valley residents.
"This is an urban-style project he wants to plop in a country setting," said Boyd.
Alam's headquarters is in Ukiah, but his Faizan Corp. owns gas station/market operations in Mendocino, Lake, Sonoma, Marin, Alameda, Contra Costa, and Yolo counties. Last year, Faizan was ordered to pay $500,00 for 64 environmental and business practice violations in seven counties, including Mendocino. Alam has been quoted as saying the fines were "100 percent housekeeping stuff."
The proposed project has been under public scrutiny since the county Planning Commission denied Alam's use permit application on Jan. 5. The decision was appealed on March 26 to the Board of Supervisors, who then decided to continue its review pending an analysis of a traffic study which disputed Caltrans' belief that the new station could generate 5,300 daily trips. Comments and questions raised at the March hearing by Coast Supervisor Ted Williams led to Alam's attorney
demanding that the supervisor recuse himself from the upcoming May 7 hearing, where he is seen as a possible swing vote.
Attorney Brian Momsen ripped Williams' public comments at the March hearing, contending that they were outside the "quasi-judicial role" board members are to assume in deciding land use issues. He blasted the supervisor for his "half-baked conclusions" and "outrageous comments." Williams then defended his remarks, contending that he attended the March 26 hearing with an "open mind." Williams could not be reached on Friday for comment on whether he intended to recuse himself or the results of the revised traffic analysis prepared by W-Trans, a traffic engineering consulting firm with offices in Santa Rosa and Oakland. The report, paid for by Alam, was based on traffic studies conducted at a Chevron station/convenience store the developer owns at Lake Mendocino Drive near Highway 101 freeway and an Arco station on Talmage Avenue. The revised study does not include data from a nearby tribal-operated Coyote Valley fuel and convenience store north of the disputed site, as the Board of Supervisors specifically sought because W-Trans representatives said they could not obtain permission to install data collection devices.
"The two sites chosen for the analysis were the Chevron station at 50 W. Lake Mendocino Drive and the Arco at 615 Talmage Ave.," said company representatives William Andrews, assistant engineer, and Dalene Whitlock, senior principal. Andrews and Whitlock concurred that based on the lower and "more realistic trip generation," a disputed right turn lane is not warranted despite state concerns. According to traffic consultants, the significant difference in estimated traffic volume is due to old data that doesn't reflect current vehicle fuel efficiency, remote work, and online shopping. As a result, Andrews and Whitlock said the earlier trip estimation "substantially overstated the potential effects of the proposed project."
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