SIZE – Proposal is to develop 4,800 acres (7.5 square miles) for industrial usage (1,527 acres of the former military base and approximately 3,300 acres of surrounding farmland.

SIZE COMPARISON – Pleasanton’s Hacienda Business Park totals 875 acres, accommodates 475 businesses, and employees 16,000. The present size of the cities of Patterson and Newman currently total about 4,800 acres. Patterson presently has approximately 700 acres of industrial land available.

TRAINS – Trains would be used to transport a projected 400,000 cargo containers a year to West Park from the Port of Oakland. An estimated 12 trains a day would pass through the heart of Patterson. A large rail yard and huge warehouses would be needed at the site to accommodate this cargo.  The rail line dead ends near Los Banos, so what comes south from Tracy must come back north. This may not be all the trains using the track.

TRUCKS – If operating 365 days a year, nearly 1,100 truck rigs a day would be needed to haul cargo from the site. This figures to be one truck arriving or departing every 40 seconds -– 24 hours a day. More trainloads and fewer truck days would up the truck traffic problem. There would be many other trucks in and out of the development.

TRAFFIC – The developer’s transportation report projects 141,000 vehicle trips a day on and off the project site. This is based on his projected employment of 37,000 on the 4,800 acres.

TYPES OF JOBS – Information not available from developer. Only the rail-truck workforce, and employees          serving public agencies for which land is allocated in the present plans, is known at this time.

WATER NEEDS – 14 million gallons a day at build-out, according to the developer’s study. A source has not been announced.

TRANSPORTATION NEEDS – Stanislaus County roadways do not adequately serve heavy east-west traffic, as evidenced by Hwy. 132. The developer’s transportation study concludes that many valley roadways would have to be expanded to 4 lanes including (see map on back)

LOSS OF FARMLAND – The farmland that would be lost to asphalt is some of the best in California, if not the world. Over 1,200 acres of the air facility has been leased out for farming for many years. Thus some 4,500 acres would be taken out of agricultural projection by the project.

SAFETY ISSUES – Patterson’s police, fire and ambulance services are all located west of the railroad tracks that runs through the city. Such services to the east side, where major residential growth has already been approved, would be delayed by train traffic. The east side presently has no schools, and student pedestrian traffic across the tracks is high. In addition, the 17 miles of track from the San Joaquin County line to the project site has 27 rail crossings –- 10 with signals and crossing arms, 9 public roadways without signals and arms, and 8 private crossings to homes and/or farm property.

WHO WOULD PAY? – A sizable amount of local, state and federal financing would be required for rail improvement and roadway widening.

WHO’S CONCERNED? – The City Councils of Patterson and Newman, the School Boards of Patterson and Newman, the West Stanislaus Rural Fire Protection District directors, and the Del Puerto Health Care District directors are all on record as opposing industrial development beyond the air facility’s 1,527 acres (2.5 square miles).

WHERE DOES

WS-PACE.org STAND?

Our organization of over 600 members opposes expansion of the industrial development beyond the 1,527 acres currently owned by Stanislaus County - us! We don’t want the trains and a second Port of Oakland to ruin our rich agricultural heritage. We don’t want the traffic problems such a humongous project would bring, along with a high demand for housing that would ultimately put pressure on our cities.

WS-PACE.org favors industrial development of the 1,527-acre air facility. Other development should be channeled to industrial parks within the incorporated cities of Stanislaus County where infrastructure is in place, reduce pollution and thereby dispersing traffic and cutting the need for major expenses that would be borne by the public.