Traffic impacts drove most of the concerns from Santa Maria planning commissioners and audience members Thursday during a study session on a package delivery warehouse proposed for the western edge of Santa Maria. 

Members of the Santa Maria Planning Commission heard about the draft environmental impact report and other details related to the package delivery warehouse planned for 1680 W. Stowell Road.

Seefried Industrial Properties Inc. has applied for a 244,418-square-foot distribution facility featuring a main warehouse at 169,000 square feet, office space, a fleet service center and various support structures. 

The project would require a planned development permit, and the applicant has asked to exceed the 35-foot height limit to develop a facility 45 feet high. 

The facility — reportedly for Amazon — would operate 24/7, supporting last-mile delivery operations with up to 345 delivery vans and 34 line-haul trucks daily along with employee vehicles. Delivery locations would span roughly 125 square miles, from Paso Robles to Santa Barbara.

Road improvements would include a turn lane added on West Stowell Road for traffic to the new facility, which would have three access driveways.

“I feel like this is going to impact all of Stowell,” Commissioner Yasameen Mohajer said.  

Commission vice chair Esau Blanco echoed the concerns. 

“Stowell is already overloaded with a lot of truck traffic,” Blanco said. 

Commissioner Tim Seifert expressed disappointment that the project doesn’t include alternative roads beyond Stowell Road.

Delivery trucks and vans accessing the package delivery warehouse likely would use Stowell Road to access Highway 101, and Blanco suggested exploring alternate routes to address concerns. 

However, Stowell is adjacent to a pair of schools — Santa Maria High School plus Sanchez Elementary School, with several other campuses just a few blocks away from Stowell. 

Additionally, a new junior high school, a sports complex and 1,500 homes are planned for vacant land off Stowell.

Discussion on Thursday avoided the package delivery firm’s name, with Seefried referring to “this client of ours.” The report refers to colors used on the structures as Prime Blue, and it appeared the applicant tried to block the name Amazon, but it shows up once.

Warehouse operations would be timed with truck deliveries of packages arriving between 10 p.m. and 8 p.m., with vans departing to drop off the items between 10 a.m. and 9 p.m. 

“It’s intentional on their part because they don’t want to be stuck in traffic because they’re delivering, so time is money. They also don’t want to be an impact on to the road system,” said John Karnowski, a traffic engineer for consultant NV5.

The traffic analysis assessed existing and future traffic, leading to proposed conditions of approval for the project, city staff said. Those include adding a center turn lane to avoid blocking the westbound and eastbound lane traffic on West Stowell. 

“That improvement alone, adding that center turn lane, is going to provide a big relief to the existing traffic issues that are out there now,” said Frank Albro, principal planner for the city.

Other measures would require the developer to provide traffic signal optimization to change timing at intersections and pay to upgrade the city’s equipment, according to a proposed condition.  

John Hollinshead, a Santa Maria-Bonita School District board member, expressed concern about the project’s traffic impact on the schools on and near Stowell plus the effect on the cross streets.

Claire Wineman from the Grower-Shipper Association of Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties, found fault with the traffic study and aspects of the proposal.

“This is woefully inadequate and creates both difficulties for the public to accurately comment and also creates significant exposure due to it inadequacy,” Wineman said.

The panel, missing Commissioner Robert Dickerson because of a potential conflict, did not take action during the study session, which provides the chance to take a more informal look at projects.

Commissioners said they would prefer to have one more study session before formally considering the application during a regular meeting. 

The draft EIR and related documents can be reviewed at the Community Development Department at 110 S. Pine St., Suite 101, at the Santa Maria Public Library at 421 S. McClelland St. or on the city’s website by clicking here.

A 45-day public comment period is set to end at 5 p.m. Dec. 29. Comments can be submitted by sending an email to senior planner Cody Graybehl at cgraybehl@cityofsantamaria.org .