A resolution supporting an application for a new kind of Priority Development Area  in the Benicia Industrial Park might help the city’s efforts to improve infrastructure and entice new businesses to relocate to the Benicia Industrial Park by making the city eligible for up to $47 million in grants to improve streets, add sidewalks and bicycle lanes and evaluate alternative sites for a new train station and intermodal center and upgrade the existing transit hub at the corner of Industrial Way and Park Road. 

“This is an opportunity to bring more money into the industrial area to help bring in more jobs,” said City Manager Brad Kilger.  “We saw it as consistent with existing policies.”

One area where the plan isn’t consistent with current policies is in the subject of housing.  The application the city sent to the Association of Bay Area Governments asking for the Priority Development Area designation indicates the city may add as many as 140 housing units, primarily live/work, in the development area.  Currently the general plan doesn’t allow housing in the Benicia Industrial Park.  When asked about housing Kilger said, “This doesn’t commit us to building housing.” 

Some audience members were concerned that the new designation might erode the rights of property owners in the park. 

“I don’t see any downside,” said Community Development and Public Works Director Charlie Knox in response to those concerns and to questions from members of the City Council.  “It puts our industrial park on the map as an employment center.” 

Kilger also said the Chamber of Commerce and industrial park businesses had been consulted and were in favor of the designation because of the potential to bring in money for much needed infrastructure improvements.   No one from the Chamber of Commerce or from the industrial park spoke on this item during the public comment period.  “Nothing is going to happen without things going through the hearing process,” said Kilger.

Traditionally, Priority Development Areas are based on the need to provide housing in areas where jobs and public transportation hubs are located.  Benicia’s downtown is designated as such an area and makes the city eligible for planning and transportation grants though, to date, none have been received.  

The new employment center designation acknowledges current and potential public transit options as well as housing stock in and around the designated development area and focuses on providing infrastructure improvements to help create more jobs in an existing urban industrial area.  The new development area is 925 acres and includes the nearly the whole industrial park with the exception of the Valero Benicia Refinery.  The Seeno property is included in the proposed development area. 

The goal of the priority development areas, both traditional and the new employment based, is to cut down on the distance people need to travel in order to get to work.   Priority Development Areas were invented as a means of implementing AB 32, the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006. 

“This is an evolving area of regional planning,” said Kilger.  “We have to place ourselves in a position to take advantage of any possible funding opportunities to help with job creation in the industrial park.”