I have mixed feelings about a Sierra Club lawsuit against the proposed Lowe”s development in the city of Clearlake. I believe that the impact of large-scale development should be documented as thoroughly as possible, but am not convinced that it will be fully addressed by an environmental impact report.
In addition to an EIR (or to a negative declaration if the project demonstrably warrants it), I would like to suggest that any large-scale commercial development should include a “community impact report” (CIR) requirement. The City of Petaluma requires a CIR for new commercial developments exceeding 25,000 square feet; Lake County and its municipal governments should adopt a similar requirement.
I first read about CIRs in the December 2008/January 2009 edition of the Sonoma County Free Press. As explained by Martin J. Bennett, co-chair of the Living Wage Coalition of Sonoma County, “A CIR is a comprehensive analysis of the fiscal and economic impacts of a proposed major development project. The report is relatively brief, the developer pays for it, and a city-designated consultant does the work.” The end result, Bennett says, “will enable policymakers and the public to evaluate the trade-offs and public costs of a project.”
What are some of the projected costs and benefits of the Lowe”s development? Will it merely redistribute existing dollars spent at area hardware stores or will it open a new market for commercial bidders that presently do not shop locally? I believe a CIR could address these points, which have been raised in letters to the editor.
Will the addition of Lowe”s cause local hardware stores to reduce their hours or positions of employment? At what cost to local taxpayers through unemployment or Medicare benefits?
Will Lowe”s hire employees at full-time with benefits or will it only pay part-time wages? How much will taxpayers subsidize part-time jobs that do not provide health insurance or an adequate living wage?
If additional sales are generated by attracting shoppers from out-of-area, how will that increased traffic affect the city”s road maintenance and its policing capacity? How will Lowe”s affect the area”s existing sewer, water and utilities capacity?
The advantage of a CIR isn”t just to the government; Bennett points out that developers “will no longer have to deal with community concerns in an ad-hoc or piecemeal way. The CIR will showcase the community benefits of a proposed project and facilitate the development of a community consensus. This should enable a project to move forward expeditiously to obtain permit approvals and thus shorten the time line for the developer.”
For these reasons, I believe that while the Sierra Club”s lawsuit was well-intentioned, a CIR more specifically addresses potential economic impacts.
I would like Clearlake government to request that the Lowe”s developers complete a CIR. I would additionally like to suggest that local governments adopt a CIR requirement for future commercial development.
For more information about CIRs, visit www.livingwagesonoma.org. To read Bennett”s article, visit the Peace Press online archive, www.peaceandjusticesonomaco.org/peacepress.html.
Cynthia Parkhill is the focus pages editor for the record-Bee and editor of the Clear Lake Observer-American. She can be contacted at ObserverAmerican@gmail.com or 263-5636 ext. 39.
