The Santa Maria Planning Commission will get its first look at the package delivery warehouse proposal expected to add hundreds of vehicles onto roads around the project site on the western edge of the city.

The project will be the focus of a Planning Commission study session planned for 1:30 p.m. Thursday at Shepard Hall in the Santa Maria Public Library, 421 S. McClelland St.

A draft environmental impact report for the West Stowell Road Package Delivery Warehouse has been released for the project by Seefried Industrial Properties on 32 acres at 1680 W. Stowell Road, about 3.6 miles west of Highway 101.

The applicant has proposed a 169,104-square-foot main distribution warehouse along with a supporting office area, a training room and a break room. Other features would include awnings on the east and west sides of the building for loading, remote restrooms, and a fleet service area to maintain and repair delivery vans. 

Sustainable features such as solar panels, electric vehicle charging stations, and a battery energy storage system also would be included along with a stormwater management plan and re-abandonment of a non-active oil well on site.

The document remains coy about the future operator, but the color scheme calls for a Pantone Prime Blue that matches the shade used by the online retailer. Additionally, it appears that efforts to block the term “Amazon Prime Blue” failed in at least one instance in the draft document.

Approximately 34 tractor-trailer rigs would deliver packages to the warehouse each day. Additionally, up to 345 delivery vans would depart from the warehouse at a rate of up to 72 vans per 20 minutes “to facilitate a regulated traffic flow into the surrounding area,” according to the draft EIR.

“As a result of this project, significant and unavoidable effects on the environment are anticipated in the area of transportation (vehicle miles traveled),” the environmental document states. “The impacts identified for all other issue areas would be less than significant or reduced to less than significant with implementation of mitigation.”

The project would generate approximately 55.08 vehicle miles traveled per employee per day, exceeding the city significance threshold of 18.82 VMT per employee (two-way trip) by about 237%, according to the document.

Vehicle miles traveled, or VMT, is a key measuring tool for evaluating congestion, air quality and other aspects of a proposal with efforts to increase public transit, bicycle use and more.

The draft EIR proposed various mitigation measures for the company to implement, such as carpool or vanpool incentives for workers, transit subsidies, bike infrastructure, on-site amenities such as cafeterias, childcare and banking to reduce off-site trips, and other methods for transportation demand management strategies.

The applicant must provide documentation that at least four measures are implemented within one year of receiving a certificate of occupancy, and each year after, according to the draft EIR.

Other measures target the delivery fleet, suggesting zero-emission vehicles by using electric or hydrogen options or off-peak deliveries to trim congestion and trip times, or other methods. The applicant would have to implement one of four suggested measures.

The trucks, vans and employees’ vehicles would access the site via one of three planned driveways, and about 990 parking spaces are planned. 

Even with mitigation measures in place, the VMT impacts would remain significant and unavoidable, the document said.

Instead of a larger fulfillment center, the project appears to be a final stop where packages would be sorted for specific delivery routes and loaded onto vans for customer delivery. 

“Delivery warehouses are the last mile connection between the tenant’s customers and their fulfillment process,” the draft EIR stated. “The customer packages would be sorted by address groupings, assigned to the delivery routes, placed onto movable racks and staged for dispatch.”

Delivery warehouses operate 24/7 to support delivery of packages to customer locations between 10 a.m. and 9 p.m. 

The environmental document also analyzed two alternatives, one being no project and a second involving a proposal trimmed by 33% or dropping it to about 163,760 square feet.

Construction of the proposed project is anticipated to occur in five phases over one year, from approximately March 2026 through July 2027. 

No decisions are expected to be made during this week’s Planning Commission study session, which gives members of the public and planning commissioners a chance to learn about projects and suggest changes before taking up the issues regarding the request for a planned development permit at a future meeting.

The draft EIR and related documents can be reviewed at the Community Development Department at 110 S. Pine St., Suite 101, 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 by clicking here.