BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — A bill could put a halt to the growth of Bakersfield's warehousing and manufacturing industry, impacting ongoing projects and future job opportunities.
- A bill sitting on Governor Newsom's desk could impact Bakersfield's warehousing and manufacturing industry.
- The bill would mandate minimum distance buffer zones between warehouses and sensitive sites and local governments would need to update their truck routes to avoid residential streets.
- The potential law could halt ongoing projects and future job opportunities in the industry.
Bakersfield and Kern County are in a unique position to capitalize on the warehousing and manufacturing industry in California, with development and plans for new projects already underway. But local developers and officials are now concerned a bill sitting on Governor Gavin Newsom's desk could put a halt to all of it.
"The direct impact of some of these future projects we're looking at is anywhere between 11,000 to 15,000 ongoing jobs," said Bakersfield Assistant City Manager Gary Halen.
Kern County has always led the state when it comes to agriculture and oil, but another industry is starting to hit its stride in economic development: warehousing and manufacturing. Bakersfield has a unique upper-hand, according to Economic and Community Development Director Jenni Buyer, due to its location about five hours away from 90% of the state's population.
"Just where we're located geographically, with Inland Empire starting to get built out, they are starting to look at other areas," Buyers said.
Especially after starting with the movement of IKEA, Target, and even Amazon into Kern County and Bakersfield, Buyers said the city wants to see the industry continue to grow.
"We have two projects that are in the entitlement process, those two projects would be impacted and then we have a future project, Rosedale Ranch in the Northwest, and that's where we see the future job base in manufacturing," said Halen.
Halen said the City is already working on three major manufacturing and warehousing projects, but now, a potential new law — Assembly Bill 98 — could throw a wrench in those plans.
The bill — if signed — would mandate minimum distance buffer zones between warehouses and sensitive sites, such as homes, schools, parks, and more. It would also require local governments to update their truck routes to avoid residential streets.
"We have several areas that are planned for industrial and all of the areas that we're looking at there could be some of this overlap," Halen said,
The three current projects are spread throughout Bakersfield, from Mount Vernon and the 58, Hosking and the 99, and the Rosedale area.
"Those projects [are] over 3.3 million square feet of industrial space and [would] generate $27 million of property tax revenue just to the city over a 30-year period."
Bakersfield has joined a coalition of various California cities opposing the bill, which passed the legislature just hours before the legislative year ended on August 31.
Halen and Buys said if signed, the impact would not only be the loss of economic growth and future jobs, but future long-term opportunities for Bakersfield residents in the fast-growing industry.
"So while it might seem like they're only entry-level positions, I think it has steps to go through which makes it have the ability to have some quality jobs in our community," Buyers said.
Newsom has until Monday, September 30 to sign AB 98.
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