Studebaker’s Mess

Profit Driven Developer Trumps Protection of People and Environment In Sonoma

By Steve Zeltzer

lvpsf@igc.org

3/27/2009

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Bucolic Sonoma is today gaining a reputation as a developers dream. Using their multi-million dollar budgets and control of local politicians and government agencies that are supposed to protect the environment and the people of the county the exact opposite is taking place.

One of the prime examples today is the handy work of millionaire scion Jack Studebaker of the Studebaker brothers who founded the auto company. Jack now lives in the most expensive mansion in Rancho Santa Fe. In fact, Jack is presently in a beef over his new $30 million dollar house in the highly exclusive Rancho Santa Fe area in San Diego. Although the house was listed for over $32 million, apparently Studebaker picked it up for only $17 million. This is being investigated by the County Assessor for any evidence that Studebaker may have sought to rig the price to limit taxes. Is this another example of tax shifting by the rich in California?

http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20040826/news_1c26rancho.html

This same Studebaker is now running a scam to destroy the environment of Somoma county for his company Mesa Beverage. “Jack” Studebaker is general counsel of Liquid Investments Inc., the parent firm of Mesa Distributing Co., a local company that distributes beer and soft drinks” according the the San Diego Union. Isn’t he the real owner of the Mesa Beverage Corporation which is building a major beverage distribution operation in Sonoma at an important wetlands area in Mark West Creek? Although he denies this more and more facts show the opposite.

This Sonoma development project exposes the complete failure of governmental and environmental oversight not just at this site but in most big development projects.

As usual the developer pays for a study to give them the right to develop. Surprise, surprise, the impact study which they call a Mitigated Negative Declaration MND is used by developers as a subterfuge vehicle to avoid a real environmental impact report EIR.

This has now become common operating procedure not only in Sonoma but throughout the state. In San Francisco this very month, one of these MND statements was produced by the Hines Development company that would have allowed the demolishment of the ILA-ILWU headquarters near Market where the general strike of San Francisco was planned and organized.

The developer had paid for a study that said that the site on the Embarcadero near the SF Ferry Building had no historical importance. When this was exposed at a hearing of the SF Board of Supervisors, they rejected the MND and ordered a full Environmental Impact Report.

With 25% building trades unemployment the pressure obviously is on to get jobs for the thousands of unemployed construction workers and the building industry but at what cost?

In Somoma’s case like San Francisco, Studebaker wired the the process so even though there have been many floods on this wetland site and it will lead to a massive increase in big truck traffic there seemed to be no problems according to the Sonmoma Design Review Committee and the Sonoma Planning Department. At the Board Of Supervisors, Valerie Brown acting as a shill for the developer also ignored the fact that this development would severely impact the historic environmental conditions at the site. Supervisor Paul Kelley who represents the very area where this scam has taken place is apparently, the kind of politician who has never seen a development he didn’t like and his born again ideology is build, build, build regardless of the cost or any other environmental concerns.

In addition to destroying wildlife including the habitat for the protected California tiger salamander it would increase the likelihood of massive flooding during any serious storms. In fact in another example of the manipulated report the developer paid for, the only study was a two year study of flooding.

As Brown, Kelley and other Sonoma politicians should have learned after one environmental disaster after another, a two year study of floods when there have been floods in California that have cost lives and billions of dollars of property along with the environmental blowback to such unbridled development is a possible cost.

Finally in frustration, and at great cost, some of the home owners including Beverly Schenck and Jean McMullen who know what floods can do and also know what this monstrosity will do to their homes have raised the funds to file a lawsuit against Studebaker.

This long term costly battle is not just about this site and Studebacker but how the environmental protections in Sonoma and throughout California have been twisted and turned into their opposite by wealthy corporations and their owners.

It is time to challenge not only this project but the whole manipulation of the process that has turned into it’s opposite.

january_2009_response

This is a link to a North Bay Business Journal article that describes the state of the law suit back at the end of 2008.  You can read the story here. I will continue to post updates as I bring you up to date on the story about how Mesa Beverage is destroying our lands here in Sonoma.

I’m a homeowner in Sonoma County who has spent the past four years fighting a monster.  The monster I’m referring to is Mesa Beverage Company.  Mesa, along with its parent company, Liquid Investments is building a $20 million dollar major distribution center just feet from my beautiful 100 year old farm house.

Mesa seeks to destroy not just my livelihood, but some of the most beautiful and natural open spaces left in Sonoma County.  Over the years, I’ve uncovered a lot of back-room deals made with County supervisors whose pockets have been lined by lobbyists funded by Mesa and its seemingly limitless coffers of money and finance.  This site is dedicated to telling my story and helping to bring Sonoma’s citizens together in the hopes that awareness will grow about the destruction of the environment around us.  Today it’s my home that’s being endangered, but tomorrow it could be yours or your children’s.

Through education, awareness and community involvement we can preserve the history of Sonoma County and its lands.