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Wednesday, Aug 11 2010 07:45 PM

City council: Bakersfield Commons, Saco Ranch hearings

By City Beat

It's 6:37 (pm, natch), council is in closed session, and a small crowd awaits the council's return for hearings on two big developments.

Bakersfield Commons, the one at Coffee and Brimhall, has had a strong PR machine and my guess is most of the folks here will speak in support of the project.

Not sure what to expect with Saco Ranch, the big commercial/retail/industrial project out by 7th Standard and Coffee.

The Sierra Club has been expressing concerns about both of these items and will almost certainly reiterate those issues tonight.

Speaking of which: One of the closed session items is the Sierra Club lawsuit over the Canyons project.

Both the projects tonight should pass easily (environmental lawsuits likely for both), though there might be a lot of talk between now and the final votes.

Otherwise it's been a quiet meeting. The council added potential litigation regarding the troubled annexation by Highway 99/Taft Highway to its closed-session menu. (That's the site with future CHP station, Bob's Big Boy, etc, that has had first annexation attempt die.)

-- Gretchen Wenner, staff writer

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