The Ceres City Council voted Monday to nix immediate plans to declare a parcel adjacent to Walmart as surplus so it can be disposed of.
However, the city did decide to dispose of a vacant 0.17-acre lot at the northwest corner of Arthur Way and Hollister Street as surplus. The vacant property is the former site of a city well which was removed and could be used for residential development.
Declaration of public land is governed by the state Surplus Land Act which intends to prioritize development of affordable housing and open space on the surplus land of public agencies. The act requires local agencies, prior to selling surplus land, to follow certain procedures so designated entities receive the first opportunity to express interest and negotiate with the local agency.
The issue of the city owned 2.46-acre parcel at 2807 E. Service Road immediately west of the Mitchell Ranch Shopping Center (Walmart Supercenter) has been a sticky issue with the council.
City staff has suggested that the Service Road parcel could be used in negotiations with Walmart to potentially relocate an existing storm water basin and realign Walmart’s Service Road driveway to create a four-way intersection with Ceres Gateway Center to the south.
At the Sept. 25 meeting, Vice Mayor Bret Silveira said the issue of the parcel and the city fixing the misalignment of driveways were mutually exclusive. He cited the dangers of the city’s poor planning and expressed concern that someone could get killed because of the misalignment. Christopher Hoem, director of Community Development, suggested the parcel could be used as leverage in getting Walmart to move its only southern entrance. However, Silveira insisted that the surplus parcel be left out of the discussion as a separate issue.
Silveira expressed “disappointment” on Monday evening that city staff continues to link the issue of surplus parcel as a “bargaining chip” with Walmart in the city’s attempt to remedy the traffic situation.
“Two separate issues shouldn’t even be talked about in the same sentence, especially now that we know most of the entrance into that land will be gone at some point with the diamond interchange,” said Silveira.
The city would like to relocate the Walmart entrance to the west but cannot force the corporation to make the change, said City Manager Doug Dunford. On Monday he stated the city must declare the land as surplus in order to have it available for anybody to use it.
If Walmart isn’t interested in the neighboring parcel for trade or sale, city staff could sell it and use the money to offset the city’s cost of realignment and a new four-way signalized intersection with Ceres Gateway Center to the south and also move Walmart’s drainage basin.
Walmart has plans to build a service station right where the city wants to realign entrances.
Councilman Daniel Martinez said it seemed like city staff was s only following the requirements of the Surplus Land Act to “just leverage for Walmart.”
Silveira motioned to approve only the vacant lot at vacant lot Arthur Way and Hollister Street as surplus but not the parcel near Walmart. That motion was approved 4-1 with Mayor Javier Lopez the lone opponent.
City Attorney Nubia Goldstein said once land is declared surplus, the city must first provide notice to a list of agencies interested in building affordable housing.
After the new Service Road overpass is completed, the parcel will only be accessible from Don Pedro Avenue at the north or Brickit Court on the west.
The council previously backed off from declaring two other sites as surplus. They included the parcel immediately south of the Clinton Whitmore Mansion. The parcel at 2761 Sixth Street, opposite Walter White Elementary School, was originally included to be declared as surplus but Hoem said the city has plans to retain the parcel for water vessels.
