Residents raise alarms over proposed Auburn Industrial Center

A proposed development off of Blocker Drive in Auburn has sparked outcry from nearby residents and environmental groups who say the project threatens protected trees, wildlife and a perennial stream that feeds directly into Auburn Ravine. The planned Auburn Industrial Center calls for the removal of more than 80,000 cubic yards of earth to construct two large industrial buildings totaling 100,000 square feet. But it's not just the scale that has neighbors concerned, it's the location and environmental impact as well. The site borders residential neighborhoods, includes 210 protected-status trees, 195 of which are slated for removal, and lies adjacent to a riparian zone that supports native species and spring-fed water flow even during summer months. According to the public notice about the project, published May 28, the industrial center is designed to accommodate multiple tenants. The buildings would support a mix of uses including office, light manufacturing, e-commerce fulfillment and warehousing. Suites would range from 3,500 to 6,200 square feet, with the option to combine units as needed. Roughly 30 percent of the space is designated for office use, while the remaining 70 percent would be used for industrial purposes. The development could occur in one or more phases and is expected to employ between 100 and 150 people, depending on final occupancy. Jackie House has lived in Auburn for 45 years and has been in her current home for 35. Her property is across the hill from the planned industrial park, prompting her to spearhead the efforts to fight the project within her neighborhood. House says in addition to the environmental concerns, residents have raised questions about the traffic and noise it will bring during construction and after completion. "The geotechnical report identified that there's so much shallow hard rock that blasting would be required during construction. That's going to be a huge noise impact. One of our concerns is that we don't feel that the noise impacts were adequately evaluated, both during construction and after," said House. "Some of the uses that are proposed have brought on a big concern that trucks will be coming at all times of day and night to load and unload." House said the area being proposed for the site is zoned for residential structures and she does not believe the city is able to put an industrial park in that location. "The report indicated that the general plan land-use designation allowed for either industrial or residential, and we dug into that," says House. "I asked the city to retrieve the document out of their archives, because what was available was hard to read, and it's very clearly zoned for urban low-density residential. It has to be housing unless something changes in their zoning." House said in her neighborhood alone, 53 people have signed a letter fighting the project and in the adjacent Prospect Hill housing development there have been 15 signatures. Residents have also raised concerns about the lack of detail in the mitigations for the tree removal and the permanent loss of riparian habitat to make way for the industrial park. According to House, the proper state agencies were not notified of a document that was supposed to be made available for review for the project. There are also questions about the historic significance of the site. House has two tubs worth of vintage broken bottles and metal that were collected on her property that she says were left behind by miners that occupied historic Spanish Flat, a small mining town outside of Auburn from the 1800s. "There's evidence of all these historic artifacts right on this side of the creek, and it's highly likely that similar historic deposits are over there," said House. "We feel that further identification should be done before they break ground to make sure there are no more historic artifacts." House said there have also been concerns about the project from the Placer County Historical Society, Audubon Society, California Native Plant Society and other groups that feel there needs to be more research done to ensure the protection and preservation of the site. "I've notified the city manager, the planning director. I've also notified all of the planning commissioners and all of the city council, including the mayor," says House. "We've noticed there are quite a few impacts that were not fully described in the environmental document and there were also some things like technical appendices missing from the document." Tuesday morning, House said that she met with Auburn City Manager Sean Rabe and said that due to the number of concerns expressed, the city will require a full Environmental Impact Report on the area. Public notices say little to no environmental impact According to the California Department of Conservation, the proposed project site is classified as Urban and Built-Up Land, meaning it is already developed with structures such as homes, businesses or infrastructure. As a result, the project will have no impact on important farmland or land as stated in the public notes. The public notice also says the removal of the trees will have a less than significant impact on the environment in the area. The public notice address the environmental concerns as well. A recent field review and database check by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife found the proposed project site remains largely unchanged since 2017 and continues to serve as a habitat for local wildlife and migratory birds. Although no formal surveys were conducted to confirm the presence of sensitive species, the site may support the western pond turtle and foothill yellow-legged frog, a species listed as threatened under California law. Experts recommend taking precautions to avoid disturbing the stream corridor, which serves as potential habitat for the frog. City of Auburn Economic Development Director Jonathan Wright said the project is zoned for industrial use but has been vacant until this project was proposed. "This is an industrial property that was zoned for industrial in 1998. It's something that's been sitting there and it's actually the last green field industrial property that the city actually has," said Wright. "From an economic perspective, this is a wonderful project. It's really needed for the community and for the greater Placer County area." Wright says he knows concerns were raised about the environmental impact of the project but noted the proper measures will be in place to protect the area. "This proposal is proposing lots of landscaping and lots of design work. A lot of the concern from the neighbors is coming from ones that are very reasonably buffered by that green space," said Wright. "There's a creek there which we need to protect. There are riparian buffers from the creek that we need to protect. There's the complete other side of the creek where you have long-standing trees, which help mitigate the view shed." Wright also addressed the concern of the roadway that would connect Merrow Street and Blocker Drive, saying it's to ensure the safety of the residents and the occupants of the warehouse. "There's concern over the roadway that's being proposed there, and that that roadway is done because it really is a fire safety issue," said Wright. "They could put in a road from Blocker Drive to the industrial site, but we specifically required them to actually connect into the neighboring community." Wright also said a large variety of tenants could use the industrial center when it's built, ranging from breweries to tech companies and research labs. The city of Auburn is working on addressing the public comments speaking out against the project and has a public hearing tentatively scheduled for Aug. 26.