Fort Bragg Planning Commission split on new shopping center

The Fort Bragg Planning Commission on Wednesday night narrowly denied permits to build a small shopping center just north of the junction of Highways 1 and 20. The defeat is likely just the first round for the contentious project, which drew a rowdy crowd of more than 100 people to the hearing.

The 2-2 commission decision will be appealed to the Fort Bragg City Council, said Greg Patton, a fourth-generation resident of the coastal town who, along with his father, Bill Patton, is trying to develop the commercially zoned 20-acre plot of land. The family previously built two other shopping centers in Fort Bragg, a small downtown strip mall and the Boatyard Shopping Center, located across the highway from the one being proposed.

As designed, the shopping center would be composed of 29,500 square feet of retail space and would include a Grocery Outlet and two yet to be determined businesses. That’s about a third of the size of the Boatyard center, city planning officials said. It would include solar panels and rain-capturing equipment, and would be cloaked in vines and other vegetation. But those features did little to placate most of the people at Wednesday night’s hearing.

Opponents said it would reduce the ocean views from Highway 20, increase traffic, strain water resources and compete with downtown businesses still reeling from the recession. Some also criticized the choice of a Grocery Outlet, saying it doesn’t provide healthy food choices.

“This is not high quality food,” said Sheila Dawn Tracy.

Proponents said they liked the design and that the competition among businesses would be good for Fort Bragg residents.

“I think it’s needed,” said Lynda Bengtsson.

Advocates also noted that the proposed shopping center looks better than other existing developments between Highway 20 and downtown. They include a trailer park and miniature golf course. There’s a high-density residential neighborhood to the south.

Some of the opponents lauded the design but said it’s in the wrong place. But Rex Gressett - among the most vehement in the crowd - was unimpressed. He said the applicants were trying to turn an obviously ugly building into a “silk purse.”

He went so far as to call for the firing of the city planner for allowing the project to get to the hearing stage.

The project was the latest to be proposed for the location. In the past 10 years, several other projects - one for housing, another for a center with a gas station, mini mart and restaurant - were raised and dropped for a variety of reasons, including inadequate access and zoning issues.

Several people at the Wednesday night hearing suggested that the city buy the land, potentially for a park, college facilities or Native American cultural center.

The land is for sale for just over $5 million, Patton said after the meeting.

City officials said it’s unlikely Fort Bragg would be eligible for more grants for parks because it’s already received more than $11 million to create a 93-acre park and a coastal trail along the bluffs of the former Georgia-Pacific mill site, which offers spectacular views of the ocean now that most of the industrial buildings have been removed. That project has raised the ratio of park acreage per resident and renders the city of about 7,000 people less competitive in the grant application project, Planning Director Marie Jones said.

The crowd of mostly older adults was often unruly during the hearing, eliciting frequent warnings from the commission’s chairman to quiet down.

They jeered decisions and comments they didn’t like - including a 3-1 vote to approve a mitigated negative declaration of environmental impacts instead of requiring a full environmental impact report on the project.

“EIR, EIR, EIR,” the group chanted.

They applauded and cheered when the commission denied the use- and coastal development permits.

A date for the appeal will be set after the request is submitted.

You can reach Staff Writer Glenda Anderson at 462-6473 or glenda.anderson@pressdemocrat.com. ?On Twitter @MendoReporter.