EDITOR,

All is quiet on the West Side front, at least in the battle over the proposed West Park industrial project on Patterson’s southern border.

But the lull in the fight does not mean that nothing is happening. Quite the contrary.

Developer Gerry Kamilos supposedly is on track with environmental studies required under the California Environmental Quality Act. These are scheduled to be presented to county government late this year, after which public hearings will be held prior to our county board of supervisors acting on an environmental impact report.

The CEQA process is a thorough one. It must review a long list of potential impacts the humongous project would bring to the West Side — from water, air quality, traffic, population and housing concerns, agriculture and public services, to land use and others.

This is when the full scope of the project will be laid before the public, and we’ll have an opportunity to respond.

In the meantime, our organization will continue to monitor the project, round up support from other groups, and keep an eye on the upcoming election in June, in which two seats on the board of supervisors are up for grabs. For it will be the supervisors who determine the size and future of West Park — with the future of the West Side hanging in the balance.

Ron Swift

President WS-PACE.org

209-892-6355