Posted on 01/15/2004 5:13:47 AM PST by chance33_98
Sierra Clubs wants to charge developers to protect air quality
Updated 1/14/04 5:47 p.m.
BAKERSFIELD - The Sierra Club wants Kern County and the City of Bakersfield to tack a $1200 fee on every new home built. It is an air mitigation fee that hundreds of local homebuyers will have to pay soon.
The Kern chapter of the Sierra Club has successfully pressured a handful of developers to pay if they want to build.
The settlements total $2.5 million.
The question now is how will that money be spent and who will oversee it.
The price just went up on 1400 new homes to be built in northeast and northwest Bakersfield.
Feeling pressure from the Sierra Club, developers with four different projects have now agreed to pay a $1200 fee per house.
“It appeared that my chances of winning if it went to a lawsuit was not real favorable,” said Steve Blumer of Blumer Construction and Development, “So we opted to get on with the subdivision.”
The cost is passed on to you, the homebuyer, to deal with pollution the Sierra Club said your car, lawnmower and fireplace will cause.
So where will your money go?
“Things like junking cars that pollute a lot or replacing diesel engines for farmers with cleaner burning things,” said Gordon Nipp of the Sierra Club, “Things that will clean the air.”
Deciding how to spend the money is a committee with a representative from the Sierra Club, the developers, the city, and the Air Pollution Control District.
Gordon Nipp said the Sierra Club has emerged as a force to be reckoned with because the city and county are not doing enough when it comes to a thorough environmental impact report.
“We started writing them about and testifying to the planning commission and the lawsuit,” said Nipp, “It turns out, without a lawsuit, we didn't really have a lot of leverage.”
Blumer initially felt bullied but said it seems Kern County and Bakersfield do not have bullet proof Environmental Impact Reports.
“The Sierra Club has good intentions,” said Blumer, “But I still have a real bad taste in my mouth about the selective procedure the Sierra Club uses to select our developments.”
The Sierra Club will ask the city and county to adopt new building ordinances that include a $1200 fee on all new homes, as well as other requiring solar panels as an option to homebuyers.
I wondered how long it would be, before the greenies picked up on Jesse's techniques.
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