September 29th, 2006 – The Tribune

By Bob Cuddy 

The Dalidio Ranch project, the focus of Measure J on the Nov. 7 countywide ballot, will create excessive levels of air pollution from vehicle emissions, as well as unacceptable levels of dust and other particulates, according to an analysis by the county Air Pollution Control District.

In a nine-page report to the county Planning Department dated June 26, APCD officials suggested that wording be added to the initiative to alleviate some of the problems. But by that time, Measure J’s language was locked in place.

The district’s report illuminates a key concern of those who oppose Measure J and the shopping mall project it would allow to be built near San Luis Obispo: The measure does not have to face local environmental scrutiny.

However, while Measure J’s wording is immutable, Dalidio spokesman Dave Cox said the air district’s concerns will be addressed at the time the developer applies for permits to build and operate the project.

“There are a lot of things that will have to be answered after the fact,” Cox said.
Without formal restraints in the initiative itself, Measure J, if passed, leaves the air pollution district with having to work with the developer.

According to county principal planner Kami Griffin, “If there are not specific conditions in the initiative and there are no state laws that are specific, then the APCD will have to ask for the developer to incorporate certain measures.”

Measure J puts the district in the position of having to “negotiate after they’ve gotten approval,” said Aeron Arlin-Genet, planning manager for the APCD. The district will have to rely on the developer “being a good neighbor,” she said.

Cox said rancher-developer Ernie Dalidio will work with the district, although Cox acknowledged that under the language in Measure J he does not have to do so.

Dalidio’s proposal calls for 530,000 square feet of retail development, 60 units of housing, an organic farm, a farmers market, a butterfly sanctuary, sports fields and other activities. The commercial element would take up more of the land than any of the other uses, with about 51 acres devoted to shopping.

The market would feature several anchor stores, including Target and Lowe’s. The site between Madonna Road and Highway 101 is boxed in by development on three sides, which Dalidio and his supporters argue makes it a logical place for shopping.

Concerns over constraints

In its letter, the Air Pollution Control District suggested several solutions to anticipated problems in construction of Dalidio Ranch, as well as its operation. For example, it said on- and off-road diesel equipment should not be allowed to idle for more than five minutes.

Measure J lists constraints on the building and operation of Dalidio Ranch, but they are not as extensive as those desired by the Air Pollution Control District.

Arlin-Genet disputes the assertion that the APCD’s concerns will be handled at the permitting level. While some of her district’s worries will be covered by specific state laws — how to handle naturally occurring asbestos or lead paint in demolished buildings, for example — many will not be, she said.

The five-minute limit on idling trucks, for example, falls under the California Environmental Quality Act, she said, and because Measure J is a citizens’ initiative, it does not have to face the CEQA process.

The district also slammed Measure J for its $10,000, one-time payment to compensate for air pollution, which the measure’s authors say would offset pollution created by the construction and operation of Dalidio Ranch.

Measure J suggests the money be used for a park-and-ride lot, subsidized bus passes, buying polluting vehicles to get them off the road, converting buses to natural gas and other proposals.

District officials say $10,000 would “grossly undercompensate for the project’s air quality impacts” and “would not even cover one ton of emissions from this project.” The district’s 30-year emissions estimate of Dalidio Ranch is 2,460 tons.

Cox calls the district’s figures “preposterous.” He contends the APCD’s formula for air pollution compensation, if carried to the extreme, could result in millions of dollars in mitigation.

Expanding chorus

The Air Pollution Control District joins an expanding chorus of local agencies that have raised questions about the effects of Measure J. Concerns about traffic, the lack of a Prado Road overpass in Measure J, and the financing of such an overpass should one be built later have all aroused concern.

Caltrans, the San Luis Obispo City Council and the county Council of Governments, which coordinates regional approaches to transportation, all have expressed reservations about Measure J.

Cox has disputed some of their numbers regarding traffic and has said their concerns can be met.