Introduction
A Yreka developer is applying for a 153-unit mini-storage warehouse and car wash project in the City of Mt. Shasta. Developer Jim Freeze wants to locate these industrial, self-storage warehouse premises as close as about 10 feet in plain view of the scenic Spring Hill Trail, and along the very visible northern entry road to the City of Mt. Shasta.
SPRING HILL TRAILThe Spring Hill Trail begins where this project is proposed. This recreational trail offers scenic hiking in the City of Mt. Shasta. But the developer wants to fence off this meadow and build cheap, unsightly, pre-fabricated metal warehouses here, something not even allowed by our City's zoning and design laws. |
Proposed site plan The project's 153 pre-fabricated metal building warehouse units would be in full view of the immediately-adjacent Spring Hill Trail and Parking area. (Click image to enlarge) |
aerial photo of siteThe project site is outlined above in red. Spring Hill and its public trail is above to the north of this site. |
This website discusses the various environmental hazards this ill-conceived project poses to our community. Those various topics include the project's aesthetic impacts, nighttime lighting impacts, zoning inconsistency, wildfire risks, water supply and pollution risks, greenhouse gas climate change impacts, and other hazards.
Project site viewed from adjacent spring hill trailhead
Although private land, this land's adjacency to Spring Hill Trail makes it one of our community's most beautiful recreational features, if not a full fledged park.
But this blighted, self-storage warehousing being proposed here is not even permissible under the City's regulations that prohibit metal buildings and warehouses on property with this land's commercial zoning: (click to expand)
View along trail now
First Let's ConsiderTrail View
The Spring Hill Trail begins and passes along the edge of this proposed self-storage warehouse project's site. A bucolic meadow would be blighted by the very worst category of building types the City has worked to prohibit in such locations. In spite of receiving official notice that such warehousing is not allowed here, the developer is nonetheless pressuring City officials to make an exception for his project.
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Now let's WORK to protectEntry View to City
Our impressions of a city are formed by the quality of public spaces. If they are not pleasant or preserved, we will seldom return. Good planning should be the rule, not the exception. Quality public spaces not only benefit people by offering leisure and living areas, but they also have the potential to boost the local economy.
An urban gateway is an entrance corridor into a city with its own distinctive sequence of buildings, signs, lighting, and landscaping. The northern approach to our City of Mt. Shasta is from limited-access Interstate-5. This route along North Mt. Shasta Boulevard is essentially a “front door” to our community. Our City officials have banned warehouses from this corridor by zoning the land for more attractive commercial purposes. However this proposed self-storage warehouse project with cheap metal buildings at this gateway location threatens to damage the first impressions and desirability of our City. |
developer's unauthorizedTree Cutting
To make more visible and thus to advertise his project, Mr. Freeze had over 30 mature trees cut down in 2017. That was so people would prominently see his warehouses and car wash when built. The City was not informed then, eventually cited him for that violation of planning regulations, and never gave permission for that first phase of this project. Unfortunately, the current environmental study fails to analyze the visual impacts of the total changes proposed by this project. It is as if the IS/MND consultant is overlooking its responsibility to analyze the proposed project compared to the original baseline conditions.
(Click image below to enlarge to see where trees were cut, shown in red.) |
Project poses serious wildfire risk to spring hill and nearby homes
Details about wildfire risk:
Let's protect this spring hill trail
Or this might be the first impression visitors get arriving to our town from north:
environmental impact analysis:
The City hired a huge planning company Michael Baker International based in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania with over 3,000 employees worldwide to prepare an Initial Study (IS) for environmental review of the project's application for only $17,230. The City then erroneously concluded, based upon that inadequate Initial Study, that all environmental impacts could easily be rendered less than significant. Rather than prepare an Environmental Impact Report (EIR), the City is taking a short-cut called a Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND). MNDs are quicker and less expensive because no response to comments is required, and no project alternative analysis must be done. City officials have been deceived by this planning firm's conclusions, often not based on evidence or analysis, in underestimating the risks to our community. Ask yourself, would a giant company underbid more local smaller Redding planning firms to get the job, then quickly paste together boilerplate text entirely missing some important Mt. Shasta facts, to meet their cheap budget? Would unprofessional, big wig, wheeler-dealers consider we Mt. Shastans as mere country hicks who wouldn't have a clue to our rights under state and local laws? Their first 2017 IS-MND was so defective the City had them revise it for 2019. The consultant firm with an office in Chico, likely embarrassed, is attempting to bury about 64 previous public comment letters on that 2017 IS-MND so that it will not have to consider or respond to them. These consultants promised our City responses to public comments, but have reneged on that agreement. CEQA (Calif. Environmental Quality Act) requires the Planning Commission to consider all public comments on the project received during both public review periods, not just those which are submitted now. The City is accepting new comments until August 28th [updated]. Read the IS/MND here as available online:
https://mtshastaca.gov/wp/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Freeze-Revised-IS-MND-2019.pdf
Written comments on the Revised IS-MND may be submitted by mail or in person to the City of Mt. Shasta, 305 N. Mt. Shasta Boulevard or by email to the City Planner Juliana Lucchesi at: [email protected].
[UPDATE on 7-25-2019] - Comment Deadline Extension
Comments must be received by the City no later than 5:00 PM on August 28, 2019 unless the City decides again that the Revised IS-MND is also too defective to bother approving. Let them know that an EIR is required because your and other comments identify serious problems with the project and the Revised IS-MND. Check out some comments that others are submitting that we'll post on the Public Comments page.
REVISED PUBLIC HEARING DATE: The Planning Commission will consider the adoption of the Revised IS-MND during a meeting at 6:00 PM on September 17, 2019. The Planning Commission meetings are held at the City Park Upper Lodge, 1315 Nixon Road, Mt. Shasta, CA 96067. For information regarding the project or the public hearing, please contact Juliana Lucchesi, City Planner at (530) 926-7517 or [email protected].
https://mtshastaca.gov/wp/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Freeze-Revised-IS-MND-2019.pdf
Written comments on the Revised IS-MND may be submitted by mail or in person to the City of Mt. Shasta, 305 N. Mt. Shasta Boulevard or by email to the City Planner Juliana Lucchesi at: [email protected].
[UPDATE on 7-25-2019] - Comment Deadline Extension
Comments must be received by the City no later than 5:00 PM on August 28, 2019 unless the City decides again that the Revised IS-MND is also too defective to bother approving. Let them know that an EIR is required because your and other comments identify serious problems with the project and the Revised IS-MND. Check out some comments that others are submitting that we'll post on the Public Comments page.
REVISED PUBLIC HEARING DATE: The Planning Commission will consider the adoption of the Revised IS-MND during a meeting at 6:00 PM on September 17, 2019. The Planning Commission meetings are held at the City Park Upper Lodge, 1315 Nixon Road, Mt. Shasta, CA 96067. For information regarding the project or the public hearing, please contact Juliana Lucchesi, City Planner at (530) 926-7517 or [email protected].
Views of project site from spring hill trail
Spring hill trail parking area
warehouse project proposed as close as 10 feet to Spring hill trail
NEXT: Aesthetic Impacts
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