Decision day looms on Wal-Mart's plan

By Danny Bernardini/Vacaville Reporter Staff Writer

SUISUN CITY - If members of the Suisun City Council seem busy in the next two weeks, it may be that they are brushing up on 1,600 pages of environmental documents surrounding the proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter.

Those documents, and more, will be considered when the council meets Feb. 12 to decide the fate of the proposed Supercenter on Walters Road near Highway 12.

The Suisun City Planning Commission, acting in an advisory roll, unanimously approved the project Tuesday night.

It is now up to the City Council, which will vote whether or not to override a decision by Solano County Airport Land Use Commission. The ALUC - a county advisory board - voted against the project in November, therefore the council would need a super-majority vote to override that decision. If the council does so, it then would vote on approving the Final Environmental Impact Report.

The proposal for the Wal-Mart at a 20.8-acre site near Highway 12 and Walters Road would include 230,000 square feet of commercial space including a 215,000-square-foot Wal-Mart Supercenter building, plus a fuel station with mini-mart, an 8,000-square-foot sit-down restaurant or commercial-use site and parking.

Tuesday's planning commission meeting, which lasted nearly four hours, featured a couple hours of public comment, overflow seating and some unruly behavior by a few members of the crowd.

Pete Sanchez, mayor of Suisun City, was at the meeting and was impressed by the public's involvement. "It seems to me they could have gone to the wee hours of the night," Sanchez said. "Both groups did it real well. There was civility and no finger pointing. That was good."

He said the task before the council is not an easy one. As for the hundreds of pages of reading, Sanchez said he has already labored through them. He also said he expects the council's meeting to be just as popular.

"That's no problem, doing my speed reading on legalese. As an accountant, I wish there were more numbers and figures in there," Sanchez joked. "I would think it would be more of the same (at the council meeting). The opponents are probably in the line of thinking that the council will approve it."

Also at Tuesday night's meeting was councilman Sam Derting. He said the crowd as a whole behaved itself and opponents didn't raise many issues that contradicted the EIR.

"I was pleasantly surprised there were supporters from both sides," Derting said. "I thought it went well. It was a lot calmer than I thought it would be. Most of the stuff (opponents) have brought up have been emotional issues rather than things detrimental to the environment."

Derting, although not stating how he would vote on Feb. 12, said after reading the documents that he is satisfied that many of the concerns - safety, traffic and environmental issues - are addressed in the EIR. Derting said he expects a heated meeting.

"We're probably going to get a little bit harsher treatment," he said. "I've not seen anything in there that is hard and detrimental to the community."

Danny Bernardini can be reached at county@thereporter.com.

Suisun City Releases Bid Package for Key Sunset Avenue Upgrades

The Suisun City Public Works Department has issued the bid package this week for a $3 million to $5 million project to improve the railroad crossing on Sunset Avenue, and install new coordinated traffic signals at the Sunset and Railroad Avenue intersections.

This busy thoroughfare, which is the main north-south connection between Suisun City and Fairfield, became the focus of improvement efforts following a number of tragic accidents in which pedestrians were struck and killed by passing trains despite railroad safety devices that functioned as designed.

Last year, the City installed a number of new signs in the area warning pedestrians and motorists to show particular care near the rail crossing.

The new, permanent improvements will include:

• The major project components is the installation of a Fairfield water line from Suisun City limits on Sunset Avenue to the existing signalized intersection of Railroad Avenue and proceeding west on Railroad Avenue to the culvert crossing
• Installation of a new full phase traffic signal at the Railroad Avenue/Sunset Avenue intersection that will interconnect with existing Railroad Avenue / Sunset Avenue and Sunset Avenue / Travis intersection, including preemption with the UPRR
• Installation of curb, gutter, and sidewalk on both sides of the roadway
• Overlay, striping and a middle median with stamped concrete on either side of the Railroad tracks
• Landscaping
• Lighting
• Entrance monument sign
• Upgrade existing signal at Railroad Avenue / Sunset Avenue to a camera operated signal intersection
• Both sides of Sunset Avenue will have ADA accessibility with a pedestrian/bicycle path on the either side of the roadway with safety crossing at the UPRR tracks separating the sidewalk paths from the roadway.

Contractors' bids are due February 21. The work will be scheduled after the City Council awards the contract in either March or April.

Wal-Mart gets nod in Suisun

CITY'S PLANNERS VOTE 7-0 FOR SUPERCENTER

By Danny Bernardini/Vacaville Reporter

Although their decision is only advisory, the Suisun City Planning Commission unanimously voted Tuesday night in favor of a proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter.

The commissioners voted 7-0 that they were satisfied that the environmental documents associated with the proposed store on Walters Road near Highway 12 sufficiently addressed any concerns they had.

The City of Suisun City Council now will consider the issue in a meeting set for Feb. 12. That meeting will decide whether or not the council will override a decision by the Solano County Airport Land Use Commission, also advisory, which voted against the project.

The council would need an approval vote of at least 4-1, for four-fifths, to override the land-use group's decision. Because of this aspect, Suisun City Attorney Sky Woodruff explained, the planners' decision would be only advisory.

The proposal for the Wal-Mart on a 20.8-acre site near Highway 12 and Walters Road includes 230,000 square feet of commercial space including a 215,000-square-foot Wal-Mart Supercenter building, plus a fuel station with mini-mart, an 8,000-square-foot sit-down restaurant or commercial-use site and parking.

The Wal-Mart proposal has become a hot-button issue among Suisun City residents, it was no different Tuesday night. Extra seating and speakers in the lobby of the government center were provided for the above-capacity crowd. The meeting featured more than two hours of public comment that at times prompted commission chairwoman Barbara Meyers to ask the crowd to quiet down.

Paul Greenlee, spokes-man for the citizens' group Suisun Alliance, said no matter what the environmental documents contained, a store like Wal-Mart and the problems it would bring was not right for the city.

"We can make the numbers match as long as we want," Greenlee said. "This is not about Wal-Mart; this is about our city. It does not fit the city. There's another one five minutes away if you want to enjoy it."

Suisun City resident Bill Sweet said the city needs the expected tax revenue to further improve the area.

"We need to face facts. We are a bedroom community," Sweet said. "We need it for the variety, but we really, really need it for the tax base. I would like to stay in Suisun to go shopping."

Few comments were made by commissioners after listening to presentations by city staff, environmental lawyers and Wal-Mart representatives. Some commissioners asked questions relating to traffic and design elements of the store, but refrained from speaking further on the issue.
Meyers did thank those who spoke for coming.

"Whether you are for or against the project, what you've done by coming together is what Suisun City is all about," she said. "We need to continue to support each other."

Suzanne Bragdon, city manager, echoed those statements.

"I want to thank everyone who came out tonight," Bragdon said after the meeting. "Public communication is what makes a community."

Danny Bernardini can be reached at county@thereporter.com.