Will Cargill add to the pressure on Fremont's wetlands?

At a recent Fremont City Council meeting, city staff mentioned that the city is expecting to receive a development application for 92 acres of land immediately south of Patterson Ranch owned by Cargill Inc., the world's second-largest privately held corporation. In 2000 Cargill briefly circulated plans for developing half the property as light industrial. The plans included 1,050,000 square feet of building space, four stories, and accompanying parking spaces. At that time the consultants for Cargill reported that approximately 83% of the site might be wetlands. This is probably a conservative estimate.

The Sierra Club is concerned at the possible construction of hundreds of thousands of square feet of industrial park to be constructed on the edge of our Bay wetlands and directly in front of the area that the East Bay Regional Park District proposes to turn into a small campground. Why should such a proposal be brought forward at a time when it is estimated that Fremont has five million square feet of vacant research-and-development, manufacturing, and warehouse space; these numbers do not include vacant office space? A four-story building and its nearly one million square feet would obscure vistas of Coyote Hills and severely affect the park, its wildlife, and visitors.

The Yodeler will provide more specific information as it becomes available.

Jana Sokale