PD Editorial: Final word

<p>What's left to say about Dutra Materials' proposal to build an asphalt plant beside the Petaluma River?</p><p>Besides no.</p><p>Unfortunately, it seems that we'll hear “no” just twice come Tuesday when the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors takes up Dutra's ill-advised plan yet again.</p><p>Supervisors Efren Carrillo, Paul Kelley and Mike Kerns are poised to say “yes,” despite widespread opposition and despite legitimate concerns about adverse impacts on air quality, navigation on the river and recreation at nearby Shollenberger Park.</p><p>Dutra says a riverside asphalt plant, supplied by barge, offers environmental benefits, most notably fewer truck on Highway 101. But its initial plan would have blocked the channel, tying up other traffic on the river. The latest plan is to use the dock at Shamrock Materials and build a conveyor belt to Dutra's plant. But if there's an agreement between the companies, it hasn't been shared with the public. So, at least for now, the trucks will be rolling. </p><p>About the only remaining argument for this plant is jobs. That's not an argument to be dismissed lightly, especially in this economy. But the automated plant would employ only seven to 10 people.</p><p>And there's reason to wonder whether the demand for asphalt warrants another plant in the North Bay: Existing plants were operating below capacity before the supervisors decided to stop maintaining 1,200 miles of county roads.</p><p>The only momentum for this proposal comes from the imminent departure of Kerns and Kelley from the Board of Supervisors. With Kerns and Kelley gone in January, there's little chance that Dutra's proposal would prevail.</p><p>If the board moves ahead on Tuesday, approval almost certainly will result in a lawsuit alleging — with some justification — that the supervisors violated a 1998 ballot measure requiring a countywide vote on land-use changes in a 2,700-acre greenbelt south of Petaluma.</p><p>Approval won't help relations between the county and the city of Petaluma.</p><p>The Dutra site is just beyond Petaluma's city limits, but it's within the city's county-designated sphere of influence, and Shollenberger Park, across the river, is inside the city limits. An asphalt plant isn't the city's idea of a gateway, and the council is unanimously opposed  — unlike the supervisors, who have whipsawed back and forth.</p><p>In a letter sent last week, the council said “the common theme here is one jurisdiction taking actions it is entitled to take while ignoring the strong wishes of another local jurisdiction and its citizens.” Well stated.</p><p>The letter also said: “There may come a time that the county will need jurisdictions such as ours to subsume narrow local interests toward broader regional goals.” That's another good reason to say no to this unnecessary project.</p>