Bagelers,

I am sending this to lots of individuals and groups, so if you receive this more than once, I sincerely apologize. This is such an important issue for everyone in Bakersfield, I want to make sure everyone knows about it.

Michelle Beck

Bakersfield Bluffs and Open Space Committee

The Hillside Development Ordinance will be heard by the City Council next Wednesday, October 11^th. It would be wonderful to have as many people as possible there, even if everyone doesn’t speak. It is also vitally important that each one of us calls and/or emails the council members so they know that this issue is important to people all over Bakersfield. The phone calls and e-mails are especially important because all seven council members will have a preconceived notion of which way to vote.  They may be persuaded at the hearing, but most likely the persuasion will need to be done before the meeting.  General Holding and their ally Mr. Downs have spent a staggering amount of time and money trying to influence the vote. We need to be persuasive because we don’t have the money to influence the vote and we must rely on large numbers of people calling and e-mailing the council members.  Please don’t let General Holding (the only opposition to the ordinance) win. If the Hillside Development Ordinance does not pass, the Trails Plan we worked so hard for will likely be amended out of existence and we will be left with nothing.

Reasons to support the Hillside Development Ordinance:

1. It is fair and reasonable and far less restrictive than ordinances south of Bakersfield. 

2. It is not a taking. Although General Holding and Co. like to portray Mr. Downs as separate from them, his land is part of General Holding’s tract map. According to the Californian, his niece is married to the GH’s project engineer. GH’s lawyer claims that Mr. Downs will lose the use of his property if the ordinance passes, but that is simply not true. The ordinance has a clause which allows for alternate project design. Mr. Downs will still be able to develop his property.  Additionally, Mr. Downs has not completed the studies required of every developer and does not have any lots approved.  It is entirely possible that his land is not even buildable and that this ordinance may not even impact his property in the long run.

3. It protects taxpayer money (remember the money the city spent buying the houses near the old dump)

4. It is supported by the local Building Industry Association (BIA) as well as the Nickell family, who has the largest property holdings in Northeast Bakersfield

5. It is supported by the Bakersfield Fire Department.  They testified that not only will this ordinance make fighting of bluff fires easier and safer (due to the required setbacks), but less property damage would result.

6. It is supported by the city Planning Department who spent thousands of hours with consultants looking at other cities’ ordinances and trying to come up with one that would be fair and reasonable for Bakersfield.

The Planning Commission supported the ordinance by a 6-0 vote.  That means that every planning commissioner in attendance voted in support of this ordinance.  Each planning commissioner is appointed by a city council member.  I would hope that each council member trusts the judgment of the planning commissioner he or she appointed.  Therefore, if a council member were to vote in opposition to the planning commissioner that they appointed, then I am led to believe that council member has an ulterior motive for voting to oppose the ordinance.  The only ulterior motive I can see is money, because the arguments that the opposition use do not hold water.  We must call and e-mail the council to let them know that their planning commissioners support this ordinance.  We must let them know that we expect that they cannot be bought.

Your call and email can be as simple as “Please approve the Hillside Development Ordinance. It is the right thing to do for Bakersfield.”  Council members Benham, Maggard and Couch have expressed their support for the ordinance in the past, but you can call them and express your approval of their wise decisions if you like. Council members Carson, Sullivan, Hanson and Scrivner (several of whom are running for reelection this November) have been heavily lobbied by General Holding, who is rumored to be throwing money around like confetti, but these council members have hopefully not been swayed by these shady tactics. Please call them and ask them to do the right thing for Bakersfield.

As I stated above, most council members will be entering this meeting already knowing which way they are going to vote.  Please don’t wait until the hearing to make your point for the first time.  Use the council meeting to reiterate your points.

If this ordinance passes, it will be a tool that the planning department will use to help shape intelligent development in the hills around Bakersfield.  Without the ordinance, the planning department will have less authority to shape proper planning.

Michelle Beck

Bakersfield Bluffs and Open Space Committee

Letters to the Californian should be sent to: opinion@...

If you just forward my email, they will not print it. It has to be an original letter. If you would like ideas for a letter, please let me know- I’d be happy to help!

Contact information for the council members:

City_council@...

Irma Carson:

Office: 661-326-3767
Residence: 661-325-4327

Harold Hanson:

Office: 661-326-3767

Jacquie Sullivan:

Office & Residence: 661-834-4943

Sue Benham:

Office: 661-326-3767
Residence: 661-325-8273

Mike Maggard:

Office: 661-326-3767
Residence: 661-872-4729

David Couch:

Office: 661-326-3767

Zach Scrivner:

Office: 661-326-3767
Residence: 661-304-4065