A carpenters’ union and one of its local members is taking the city of San Luis Obispo to court in an apparent dispute over the city’s environmental review of a 249-apartment project.
On Feb. 5, the SLO City Council approved plans for the mixed-use development submitted by Bakersfield-based Agera Grove Investments LLC at 650 Tank Farm Road, a former mobile home park.
The Southwest Regional Council of Carpenters, which represents 50,000 carpenters in six states, and Richard Vanhumbeck, a SLO resident and union member, filed a lawsuit on March 6 challenging the city’s approval on California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) grounds.
The local suit hits as the same union faces allegations in Los Angeles of an extortion scheme where it demanded developers hire union members on a project or face a similar environmental lawsuit.
In the suit against SLO, the union claims that the city’s environmental review failed to “adequately or accurately discuss direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts to aesthetics, air quality, biological resources, cultural resources, geology and soils, greenhouse gases,” and several other listed impacts.
It describes the carpenters’ union as a group with “a strong interest in well-ordered land-use planning and addressing the environmental impacts of development projects” and Vanhumbeck as a taxpayer and resident of SLO.
Prior to the project’s approval, law firm Wittwer Park LLP submitted a 12-page letter to the city on behalf of the union, making critical comments about the environmental document.
SLO city attorney Christine Dietrick denied the union lawsuit’s allegations to New Times.
“We think we responded fully to any of the issues that have been raised,” she said.
In October 2018, the Southwest Regional Council of Carpenters sued Panorama City for its approval of a 623-apartment project, citing similar environmental objections. The developer of that project then filed a counter lawsuit alleging the union previously offered to drop the charges if its members were hired for labor.
The union has filed three anti-development lawsuits since August 2018, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The carpenters’ union, Vanhumbeck, and their attorney did not return requests for comment from New Times before press time. Δ
This article appears in Mar 14-24, 2019.
Look at the Homefacts.com website and environmental working group.org /zip code search about the safety of the water and land. The land is contaminated and no one should EVER be allowed to work or live there. The landowner has been sued numerous times over this and the companies across the street from the land tell all their employees to not drink the water for decades. What more do you need, if a worker spent any time there working long hours, who knows what would happen to their health?
There is nothing on the homefacts.com website about the safety of water and land. It is near the Chevron Tank Farm Clean up site.
HomeFacts @ Tanks & Spills Information For San Luis Obispo
CASITE7836
276 Tank Farm Rd, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401
https://www.homefacts.com/environmentalhazards/California/San-Luis-Obispo-County/San-Luis-Obispo/Tanks-Casite7836.html
AND
Property Description:
276 Tank Farm Rd is a parcel of land located in San Luis Obispo, California and has a legal description provided by the local assessor of SLO:076383001. The Arivify.com account number for this parcel is SLO-076383001.
This parcel is owned by Union Oil Co Of Ca and can be described as a Vacant.
For more information regarding 276 Tank Farm Rd including construction details, assessments, previous owners, and sales data please look below.
https://www.arivify.com/property/search/RCPSK1rsW
3/20/2019
Public Notice to San Luis Obispo County Officials and their Attorneys:
Would you build a house/commercial building on this land, that is the million dollar question?
All over the Country, many Planning Departments/ HUD/EPA are allowing greenfield projects, brownfield sites, superfund sites and underground oil spills property to be build on. When the owner of this land on Tank Farm Road admits that only 25% of the land will be cleaned up that should bring up red flags to every one in the community. It is a toxic tort case in the making.
If it is allowed to go through, my statement serves as a public disclosure notice and the city will be the fall guy and every one else that is aware of this contaminated site. I attend to alert everyone involved, that this land will depreciate and trapping anyone in this unfortunate situation is wrong and you will pay a price down the road. It is better to walk away from the deal now.
Also, this land owner had 8 years to clean up this property, it has only been several years. In addition, spills and fires like this can never be cleaned up, it stays in the ground/water indefinitely. There has been many lawsuits against the property owner of Tank Farm Road property on this very matter.
This property is on a fast track construction because the Governor will withhold the gas tax funds from SLO County if they do not build affordable housing. Maybe he should hear about this crooked deal.
The County doesn’t not care enough about the residents/workers of this proposed property instead they will leave them vulnerable to poisoning by toxins waste within 5 to 9 years. The County needs to take on the role of protector instead of a ruler of incompetence’s and greed. Enough said.
Kim Chaffee
Tank Farm Road Fire and Oil Explosion in 1926 is still affecting this community in San Luis Obispo.
The Central Coast Water Board should be sued for dereliction of duty.
The proposed construction on the vacant land of Tank Farm Road will do onsite Dewatering on their contaminated groundwater, what a joke. Where do they plan on discharging the poisoned water too with their ridiculous pre-treatment plan?
All the while knowing that folks that live in these affordable housing units on this property will not challenge the owners, property management, and the water board on the dewater cumulative plan on the procedures and toxic waste protocols.
The new tenants will not ask about the cumulative static water levels, or how close will the water wells will be to their aquifers, what are the final covers outline reports, who will monitor and report these deep injection wells too, or demand that they publicly show their permit to the public by the FDEP and the import report.
Instead, these people will be too scared to rock the boat and will become lifetime victims to your #engineeringcatastrophes graveyard.