Patterson Irrigator

Becky Campo,  Mayor - City of Patterson

The Patterson City Council has unanimously decided to sue Stanislaus County and its potential partner in developing the Crows Landing Air Facility, Sacramento-based PCCP West Park LLC.

Council members announced their decision Friday evening following a special closed-session meeting.

The suit responds to the county board of supervisors’ April 22 decision to extend its partnership with West Park for another year. The council has consistently opposed the developer’s plans.

“It’s not terribly surprising,” County Counsel John Doering said.

At the April 22 meeting, the City Council’s legal representative, Steve Herum, told supervisors it would violate state law to enter into the proposed agreement with West Park, because a thorough environmental impact review had not yet been conducted. The county’s legal representative disagreed and assured the board it would be on stable legal ground if it extended the agreement.

Supervisors voted 4-1 in favor of moving forward with West Park’s plans. West Side representative Jim DeMartini cast the lone dissenting vote.

“There’s a lack of attention to our true concerns,” Patterson Mayor Becky Campo said. “It wasn’t an easy decision, but it was unanimous.”

The council and DeMartini have been constant critics of the project since it was proposed more then a year ago. West Park’s plan is to transform the defunct military base at Crows Landing in to a 7.5-square-mile industrial center connected to the Port of Oakland by rail.

Opponents have said it would destroy thousands of acres of productive farmland, impose increased rail and road traffic on the West Side and imperil local air quality. Proponents counter that the industrial park would provide about 37,000 jobs to a growing county and could improve the Central Valley’s overall air quality.

Herum said the April 22 decision by the supervisors amounted to a “binding” agreement. Under the California Environmental Quality Act, an environmental impact report must be conducted before any such agreement is struck, he said.

“The project is far enough along,” he said.

The county’s attorney said he had not had a chance to review the council’s announcement. He added that he hopes to continue working with the council.

“We’re somewhat disappointed that Patterson has chosen litigation,” Doering said. “But, regardless of all that, we will continue to have outreach.”

West Park’s lead developer Gerry Kamilos echoed that notion.

“We’re going to continue the dialogue,” Kamilos said.

The council expects to have the suit filed before the end of the week.

To reach John Saiz at the Irrigator, call 892-6187 or e-mail him at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

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