Suisun, CA. Wal-Mart Would be a Threat to Community Safety

Another view of Wal-Mart decision in Suisun [Vacaville Reporter (Calif.)]

Regarding the city of Suisun’s proposal for a big-box store near Travis Air Force Base: City staff made a presentation to the Airport Land Use Commission on Nov 8. As one member of the commission that heard the presentation, and after reading published comments that have been made, some things need to be cleared up.

The issue is simple. The proposed location is in the Travis traffic pattern (Zone C), and is restricted to uses that do not result in crowds of people that would be put at risk in the event of an aircraft mishap. A maximum of 300 persons per any single acre at any one time is one of the restrictions, and calculations must show any project will not exceed the limit (i.e., be found “inconsistent” with the Travis land use plan).

Last month, Solano County staff relied on expert information supplied by Suisun City and calculated that the project does not meet the safety standard. Staff advised the commission to reject the project. However, Suisun officials asked for a continuance to the Nov. 8 meeting and subsequently provided “new” information to be considered.

At the meeting, the “new” information consisted of some changed assumptions, plus survey data from as far back as 1990 (yes, 17 years ago) to support city staff’s calculations. It could be said that this looked like an attempt to simply get “under” the 300 persons per acre limit. Without the “new” assumptions and data, the project exceeds the safety standard.

There were also several issues not addressed by the city, such as how to account for people arriving by bus or walking, and the potential for people to congregate inside the building.

The basic issue remains that this is an intense use proposed in close proximity to Travis Air Force Base. At stake is public safety, and protecting the Travis flying environment from inappropriate uses. Thus, it seems absolutely compelling to use sound, conservative, worst-case scenario data to evaluate such a project. This is precisely what happened on Nov. 8, and why the project was found to exceed the safety standard.

John Foster, Fairfield

Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Monday, November 26, 2007

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